Written on Monday, November 9th, 2009 at 7:21am by Alan Bedenko | 41 Comments
Agendas Redux
Here’s audio of my call in to Hardline with Dave Debo yesterday during County Executive Chris Collins’ interview. Based on Collins’ answer, it seems to me that Dino Fudoli was as qualified, if not more so, than Kathy Konst to become head of the Department of Environment and Planning.
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there are probably 100 or more individuals in western new york who would be qualified for the position. so what? obviously, naming konst was a twofer in that he got a qualified person and managed to stick it to the dems at the same time? he is a politician, after all, and isn’t that what smart politicians do?
is joe biden the “most qualified” vice president?
The Honorable Christopher Carl Collins calls Kathy Konst as one of his “best and brightest” in praising her and his recruitment of her for his administration. Yet he conveniently forgets how he slammed her publicly (see the articles in the Buffalo News) for many of her legislative actions and votes in 2008 and early 2009 after he failed to recruit/entice her to run in a Democratic primary for County comptroller against his nemesis Mark Poloncarz. For Konst, this job was about two things: (1) sticking it to the County Dems; and (2) getting a major pay raise and her “high 3″ for a taxpayer-paid pension.
“Yet he conveniently forgets how he slammed her publicly…”
please see “no permanent friends, no permanent enemies, only permanent interests.”
I thought his dismissal of Terranova was reprehensible. Plus, Collins isn’t supposed to be political, right? No agendas, right? Only bad people (i.e. Democrats) have agendas.
If he was even remotely sincere about hiring the “best and brightest”, Kathy Konst would still be in the leg, and the county would have a qualified urban planner or similar in that position.
I love pointing out Collins’ lies and hypocrisies. It’s like taking candy from a baby.
Yeah, I normally HATE hypocrisy more than anything else. But for some reason with Collins it doesn’t bother me at all. Maybe its because of the smirk on his face while he feeds the traditional politician’s own garbage back at them. Maybe its because he’s constantly pwning petty self-important Dems who’ve had it coming for years (i.e. Bruce Fisher, prime case study). Maybe its the “you want me to play your little game – here, choke on your little game” attitude. Its exactly the things that annoying Pundit the most. I can’t get enough.
While you “can’t get enough”, he’s hiring his friends and family to six-figure jobs, some of which he created especially for them. They’ll all get sweet pensions from the state, too. While you “can’t get enough”, he’s hiring people who are unqualified for very important jobs – well, planning & environment is important to some people. Clearly not to Chris Collins.
Shorter Castner: I like assholes!
oh come on alan….i love doing it too, but when i point out, say, obama’s lies and hypocrises on gitmo, ending the war, providing universal health care for all americans etc., you tend to get all pissed off. certainly obama’s lies and hypocrisies are more damaging than those of a pipsqueak county executive in one of the poorest and must inconsequential regions of the country. but obama is your guy and you cover for him by blaming republicans who should — if he was really the leader you seem to think he is — have absolutely no power at all in washington.
the strict, dogmatic party line stance is not only silly but hopelessly out of date. when you, chris and marc slam someone here, i don’t even have to have heard his or her name before to know they are republicans. the single, lone exception to that is the byron brown cabal, which includes steve pigeon, casey and some others that the lenihan dems are trying to purge for some reason i can’t fathom because, on the local level, brown seems to be the most successful democrat in erie county.
It’s my understanding that efforts have been made to bridge the gap between ECDC and the Brown/Casey/Pigeon camp numerous times, but it’s the latter who have no interest whatsoever in making peace. For some reason, you seem to be concerned about the Brown/Casey/Pigeon group, maybe you can ask them why that is?
I am a pretty left-leaning guy on some things and pretty much down the middle on others. I don’t really see eye-to-eye with the Republican Party in any way, shape, or form nowadays. One difference may very well be Rick Lazio, who is saying things about reforming Albany that mirror what I’ve written here (unicameral leg, for example).
Also, when you point out Obama’s hypocrisies, I don’t get all pissed off. I ignore you.
Also, the new Deputy Commissioner for Economic Development and Planning under Konst after Collins whacked Bill Murray is Darren Kempner, a nice guy, but whose prior work was serving as a fiscal analyst for the Erie County Fiscal Stability Authority. He left that job 2 years ago to work at UB’s Regional Institute.
We all like our own assholes, Alan. Especially when they vent their dickiness on deserving targets. That environment and planning position has been invisible no matter who was in it, so I’m over it. We don’t do planning on a regional level, and that’s the problem. But what family has Collins hired, BTW?
Family? I dunno. Isn’t “friends and family” a catchphrase for whom politicians hire when they get elected? While not technically “family”, he _did_ conveniently hire Volland Electric to do work for the county.
The point is that the environment & planning position shouldn’t be invisible, and it’s clearly not a priority for Collins. Winning elections is, and little else.
i’m not interested in the brown/case/pigeon group at all alan. i do read everything on buffalopundit every day, however. and was merely making an observation meant to head off a comment by you to the effect of “we criticize dems, in fact, we go after brown/casey pigeon at least three times a week.”
as far as why they don’t “make peace” with the lenihan gang, why should they? they seem to be getting along just fine without it.
Political leaders should – must -have an agenda. Critics of a political leader undoubtedly do have an agenda. Media talkers have agendas. Why get your back up when Collins notes that one has a different agenda than his?
“Agenda” is a plural noun.
One cannot have “an agenda.” Nor can one “have agendas.”
Alan – I’m not going to let you get away with that “family” comment as a throw away line. Since you hung on every word of Collins’ this weekend, you know he said he only has a wife and two sons in the area, and no family to give jobs to. Important distinction, considering the Iannello/Wards, Raths, Espadas, etc etc we have running around NY. And if I remember right, that Volland Electric was an established historic contract he had nothing to do with, but did get pulled when it came to light.
OK, don’t let me get away with it. Now, what? Are you disputing the fact that he’s created 6-figure jobs for his friends, and appointed friends to other 6-figure jobs?
Chris from OP – we must use different dictionaries, but I don’t claim expertise – the one I use shows agenda as a noun meaning a program of items or a list of things – the plural being agandas.
@alan…who’s he supposed to hire, his enemies?
only in a world where there’s no other choice.
There is no known evidence of Collins hiring family – at least as far as I know. But he sure has hired a lot of friends into exempt and other positions in the county and awarded a lot of business to his campaign donors. Just like Giambra and Gorski, Rutkowski and Regan. That’s the point: Collins is no different than any other politician. He says he is a chief executive. And he is. But he is also the county’s chief politician (and a very effective politician at that), despite his protests to the contrary.
The only difference is that he’s paying his friends a lot more money, sort of a pilfering thing which he’s good at. He talks out of both sides of his mouths….he’s a creep! He gives me the hee bee gee bees!
Yes, I totally admit that Collins hired his political friends, not his enemies, into six-figure jobs . . . that were six figure jobs in the Giambra administration, and before that. They’re called commissioners. That’s the salary they make. And when he hires an enemy instead (Konst), you give him twice as much hell. I also admit he created two six sigma jobs, that have saved the county several million dollars. I also admit that he wants to keep the county golf courses, because they make money that can be used elsewhere. Any other irrelevant facts you’d like me to admit?
Really?
Brian, he didn’t hire an “enemy”, that’s not the whole story nor what we’re talking about in regards to Collins.
Collins waited until the day after she couldn’t be replaced on the ballot to offer her a job for which she is as qualified to do as Brownie was to handle FEMA back in the day. He specifically waited so his handpicked candidate in District 5 would have an easy ride to the legislature.
Then, when Terranova fought, Collins and his people fought her every step of the way, even appealing after a court said she had a right to be on the Democratic ballot. With Konst getting 20% of the vote on the Independence line, it’s clear Terranova would have probably won had she been able to campaign or raise money for more than 5 days. Fudoli was a weak candidate and needed every advantage. Collins gave it to him.
In the end, is it out of the ordinary for a local politician to game the system? Not at all, happens all the time. However, Collins claims not to be a “politician”, but acts like a very seasoned one at every opportunity. The fact that he’s not a “politician” is at the very core of his outer ring suburban appeal, ya know the whole CEO/run government like a business thing? Yeah, that. So, as purveyors of news and opinion, it’s probably a good thing to highlight when someone is being hypocritical.
Also, Fudoli emerged from the whole Primary Challenge/Ostrowski Asshattery cabal which in the past stood for more choice on the ballot line and is generally opposed to the byzantine laws which maintain the status quo and protect incumbency…unless those laws benefit their cause. In which case, they are all for them! So, fuck all these people in the ear, they’re a bunch of hypocrites and we’re going to point it out.
Chris – I’m not saying he didn’t game the system. Of course that’s what happened. Alan (and you too, I guess) are just mad that his “I’m not a politician” schtick continues to work while he throws sharp political elbows. He wouldn’t be the first to be able to have it both ways. And as I said before – we all think that’s fine when the guy is on our side.
Konst and Collins were at each other’s throat as much or more any of the Dem legislators prior to this appointment, so they were certainly enemies, and it certainly was a shock at the time. Collins maybe didn’t pick the time for his prior E&P commissioner to leave, but he sure took advantage of it. I don’t blame you for being frustrated, but IMHO, you are totally blaming the wrong party. Blame Konst for selling out her district, her party, and any shred of integrity she has. You know, she could have said “no” and then thrown a public fit for Collins trying to influence the election. But she didn’t, did she? There is some info to get out, as purveyors of news and opinion.
Kathy Konst and Chris Collins deserve each other. They lack integrity. I am surprised they are not friends with Steve Pigeon, but then again, they probably are. They are all cut out of the same cloth…screw your friends, screw your neighbors….any chance you can!
To be fair a politician needs to consolidate power in order to be effective. That seems to be what Collins is doing.
Allen, You did not use your best lawyerin to ask that question though. You gave up your whole advantage when you started in on the attack. You needed to snare him before trying to pull him onto the boat. You should have started by asking him what the new hire’s qualifications were and let him get tangled in you net.
I didn’t have time. My call was aired around 10 minutes to 12, and I was dropped just after I got in the “everyone’s got an agenda” response. I can’t lawyer when calling into a show like that – I had a choice of topics, the other two being his inconsistency viz. county golf courses, and his deal with Brown to suppress turnout, but I went with this because it was, I though, particularly egregious and undemocratic.
One might almost say Mr. Collins has an agenda.
That’s their numbers, not mine. Not that I can find the quote on teh internets right now. Of course, you would be prone to call them exaggerated, and I’m suspicious, but thems the facts, such as they are.
Oops i mean Alan
The “hypocrisy” angle on Collins is getting old…people aren’t stupid…they know he has to play the political game. His detractors gleefully point out that he is some sort of hypocrite. In reality, he needs political allies to achieve his goals in county government. It is not too different than what happens in the business world.
So you think that what he and Kathy Konst did in an effort to get Dino Fudoli elected to the leg without opposition was just hunky-dory. I don’t, and, anticipating your next comment, I would have the same opinion regardless of the party affiliation of anyone involved.
I get the feeling that Chris Collins could tell you that the sun would rise in the west tomorrow, and you’d look, just to make sure.
There are a lot of not so hunky-dory things happening during election season…everything from court battles to get on third party lines to things like the Konst scenario…both sides game the system to gain the advantage. It is the way it always has been in politics and unfortunately it is never going to change. Both sides work it to try to get the upper hand.
“The other side does it, too” is an argument I expressly responded to already. You make excuses for it all you want, but it’s reprehensible. I thought reforming the system was a big deal to you, which partly explained your support of Dr. Hardwick.
Instead, you poo-poo it with, “oh, well, it’ll never change”. It’s like the annoying parents who let their kids get away with bloody murder because, “boys will be boys”.
Imagine if Iannello tried to get Hardwick thrown off the ballot on some idiotic technicality like his petitions weren’t signed correctly or whatever.
pundit…i don’t like that kind of shit either, but the fact is that the dems would have done the same thing had they been able to get away with it. collins would have to be in office a hundred years before he reaches the the “friends and family” level of people like lenihan, hoyt, ward etc.
Kevin Hardwick will try to change things…I hope he is successful in getting legislation through that helps reform the county legislature…that is one of the reasons why I supported him…the way the election system is set up is an entirely different baker’s dozen of donuts…I hate to be cynical of the election system, but it is tough not to be.
If Iannello could have, she would have. I am sure her and Dennis went over KH’s petitions with one of Michele’s fine-tooth combs.
Ok. You guys have convinced me.
It’s ok for Collins to do it because others have done it, and that’s how the game’s played.
It’s ok for Collins to do it because that’s the way it’s been done and will continue to be done.
It’s ok for anyone to do it because, you know, the rules are a bitch and the election system is kinda lame.
Oh, well! I wish Chris Collins well, since it’s just silliness to criticize him or scrutinize what he does. Because the people whom you most expect to respond with a, “you’re right, what Collins did was fundamentally unfair and undemocratic, and I’m opposed to it regardless of who does it, or what party they belong to” instead give it a shrug.
I don’t really see the point in continuing this anymore.
I’d be surprised if Kevin Hardwick is good. He’s with the wrong kind of folks, anyone connected to Chris Collins will fail. Maybe Kevin will go back and teach an Canisius. He’s too weak.
And the apathy that leads to poor voter turnout sets in.
I thought the Konst situation was strange. I didn’t cast a vote in that race because of it. We don’t know what the real story is so I reserve judgement until or if the facts come out.
That’s sad you didn’t get to vote. Chris won that war but he didn’t play fairly. But then I hear he cheats at golf too, so you should expect it from him. He gets away with things he can, but lacks the confidence to play by the rules. He just lacks basic character. Simply put, no class.