The Obligatory Endorsement Post
I’ve done it every other election season, so why stop now, right?
But this year is different.
First of all, let’s dispense with what Rumsfeld would call the known knowns: nobody gives a crap whom I endorse for elected office, and this is a completely meaningless post as a practical matter. I do not presume to have any influence over anyone’s vote, nor do I suppose that anyone really cares.
But I’ll do it anyway because I like to.
This is not, however a prediction post, so when you post a comment in a few months telling me how stupid and ignorant I am for “predicting” the outcome of a race incorrectly, you will be directed to this paragraph of this post.
This year, I am not going to give any specific endorsements of personalities, rather an un-endorsement of a particular slate of candidates; the Chris Collins slate of candidates.
Much like his chief executive counterpart in Buffalo City Hall, Chris Collins brings to that office charisma and remarkable sum of banked political capital. Tony Masiello or Joel Giambra were middling apparatchiks who talked a good game but left the office having done more bad than good. To his credit, Giambra pushed for, but failed to bring about, any sort of regionalism. Byron Brown and Chris Collins won in recent landslides and have the power, but lack the will, to do very much with it.
Regional metropolitan government could save this region. We discard it like the morning’s Charmin.
Collins in particular won on a platform of “running government like a business”, being apolitical, reining in costs, lowering taxes, and asking tough questions through, among other things, Six Sigma initiatives. In practice, however, he has failed at all of those things.
It’s as popular as it is facile to blame his failings on the Democrats, on the unions, on the legislature. Politics is not a one-person sport. Part of what makes a good politician is the ability to build consensus – to make the assumption that everyone in government is there to do good by those who sent them there. Collins bypassed that, and behaved like a bull in a china shop from jump street. His efforts, like Brown’s, amount to tinpot Machiavellianism – exploiting, for instance, a rift between Lynn Marinelli and Len Lenihan to his advantage, rather than genuinely reaching out to to a stark Democratic legislative majority to enlist their help to develop a strategy for betterment of the region.
The notion that Collins is apolitical is a falsity.
“Running government like a business” is a happy-sounding mantra that makes the electorate believe that he’s going to go after waste and fraud, and really streamline government. That’s happened only on the fringes, and has been almost exclusively directed at the poor, the sick, the single parents – people who need help, but people on whom Collins could never count to support him. He gave them even less reason to, arguing that 100% federal reimbursement of certain programs that assist the poor was irrelevant, and shunted these responsibilities off to charities. He’s saving money on legacy costs, he argues. Yet he has made no moves to, e.g., close golf courses that also employ county workers who also represent legacy costs. That choice is neither political nor businesslike.
In other words, whatever little streamlining there’s been, it’s been decided politically.
Cutting waste and spending? Like his predecessor, Collins hired people whom he knew (nothing wrong with that) and asked the legislature (which, for the most part, granted his requests) to give raises and variable minimums to his appointees. This way, a new hire could have, say, 5 years’ worth of seniority on day one. That’s not how businesses are run, is it? That’s not a reduction in spending, is it? And Collins blames Albany on 88% of the county budget problems, ignoring the fact that there are opportunities available to maximize savings even on that end of the budgetary spectrum.
It’s not the pablum you should pay attention to – it’s the deeds.
So, Chris Collins has allegedly struck a deal with Byron Brown where the Republicans run no one in city-based races for Mayor or County Legislature. This guarantees Brown’s re-election unopposed tomorrow, and artifically depresses turnout in the city for the comptroller’s and sheriff’s races, thus helping Kadet and Howard.
And for the suburban races, Collins has deliberately done exactly what Byron Brown did back in 2007 – hand-picked or otherwise supported candidates to challenge elected officials whom Collins has deemed are obstructing his plan for oddly selected spending cuts, tax hikes, and union demonization. Collins’ complained-of inability to get his agenda through the legislature is as much his fault as anyone else’s. When you treat the legislature like some meddlesome hoop through which you need to jump, rather than a co-equal branch of government, you’re going to run into some problems.
There has been practically zero substance to any of the county legislature races this year. All anyone wants to talk about is minutiae – how many legislators; how much do they get paid; are they full- or part-time; are there extended terms; are there term limits; do they keep district offices. There’s no referendum on Collins’ initiatives versus anyone else’s. There’s been no analysis of Six Sigma or taxes or spending or practically any policies whatsoever. Collins is just trying to stack the leg in his favor so there’s a better chance he’ll get done what he wants done. I’m not saying that’s abnormal or wrong, per se. Just true.
One thing’s for sure, if he’s successful, then being a legislator really won’t be full-time. Introducing and rubber-stamping the executive’s initiatives takes little time or thought.
The sheriff’s race shouldn’t even be close.
The race for comptroller is laughable. Collins is somehow trying to sell the public on the notion that it’s better that his guy is in that office, rather than someone independent from him. That way, I guess, we can get the hard-hitting fiscal reporting and analysis we got when Nancy Naples kept an eye on Joel Giambra. Win!
And all of this, remember, is over what everyone will tell you is 12-ish% of the overall county budget. $1.1 billion altogether, and they’re engaging in blood feuds over $130,000,000.
Since only 12% of the budget is allegedly subject to the political whims and desires of our elected officials, it would appear to me that most of their tasks are ministerial in nature. In other words, we have no use for county government at all, as currently structured. We could just as easily just have counties be geographical municipal divisions made up of a handful of elected overseers and a competent bureaucracy. Make sure the parks are open. Make sure you can reserve a shelter easily. Pave the roads. Fix the bridges. Plow the streets. You don’t need 15 elected legislators and a bunch of pointless fighting for that.
But since it’s more fun to bicker over WIC and golf courses, let’s not really get to the heart of the problem, but just skim the surface to please everyone’s constituencies.
Vote however you want on Tuesday. But for as long as we remain saddled with that pointless anachronism we call county government, let’s maintain a check on the arrogant and misguided county executive until such time as he learns that politics is a game of give and take – not take and shiv.
And let’s start talking about abolishing county government. Srsly.
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Given your past attraction to “the perfesser”, I find a lack of endorsement interesting, to say the least…..
I still like Professor Hardwick, and think he’s exquisitely nice and smart. The problem is that even in that race – what’s supposed to be _the_ county leg race to watch, it’s been about Iannello’s problems with race in Kenmore, and Hardwick’s push to reduce the size of the leg, eliminate district offices, and get paid less. That’s all fine and dandy, but it’s fundamentally lacking in substance and serves really to underscore how pointless county government truly is.
So if you can’t eliminate county government, make it as divided and ineffectual as possible? There is a certain perverse logic to that.
Collins hasn’t been able to accomplish much with the unions-first tax and spend crowd controlling the legislature now. Why not give Collins a group he can work with and see what happens? After all, as you said, “only 12% of the budget is allegedly subject to the political whims and desires of our elected officials. . .”
Regionalism is just another in a long line of political acts that disenfranchise the individual.
to Mike in WNY: what has Collins proposed that the Legislature has stopped? Let’s have some examples. what has the Legislature blocked that Collins proposed and wanted (short of him advocating for fewer of them)?
Brown running un-opposed is without a doubt the worst thing that could happen to the city.
The county Legislature could certainly be done without—-in its present form anyway.
T’will be interesting to see what shakes out tomorrow.
“The sheriff’s race shouldn’t even be close.”
gosh alan, i find myself in complete agreement with you. the more that voters have gotten to know about barney glascott and his department the better it has been for sheriff tim howard. like earlier this year, when adrienne march, a woman who was the subject of a buffalo pd all points bulletin for shooting two people execution-style in the head, was released by the cheektowaga cops after being picked up on a marijuana charge. or last year, when thomas zak hung himself in the cheetowaga jail, which only holds 10 prisoners, less than an hour after his arrest.
did anyone in the media up there ever even bother looking into glascott’s record, or were they just so busy throwing mud at sheriff howard they didn’t have the time?
How many of Glascott’s escapees led police on a four-month long manhunt and shot multiple cops? How many of Glascott’s escapees got away because they were improperly placed in the kitchen, where they could be unguarded and cut a hole through the ceiling with a can opener?
This year’s endorsement = anti-Collins polemic, and Collins isn’t even running. Well, I guess the absence of an explicit across-the-board endorsement of D candidates is a bit refreshing. Although it could simply mean that BP can’t type with both hands holding his nostrils.
when did Mike Hudson decide to stop being a “journalist” and editorialize all the time? was it before or after the internal management meltdown at the Reporter? I once read the Reporter to get an alternative understanding what was going on in the Falls. Now, he just rants all the time there and on this site.
well, there was the case of david grace, who was mistakenly released by the cheektowaga police dept. despite the fact the judge in the case had written “DETAIN” on his jacket. or corey scheeler, who just walked out the door at the jail while cheektowaga cops were busy eating donuts. then there are the multiple accusations — made by pastor darius pridgen and others — of racial profiling and other race-based offenses. pridgen compared the cheektowaga pd to the south african enforcers of apartheid. cheektowaga is the headquarters for the felonious chosen few m.c. and i believe it is also where the bike path rapist called home for years and years. earlier this year glascott defended officer david robida, who threatened and harassed a former girlfriend in violation of a direct order from cheektowaga police chief christine ziemba and was later found to have made false statements about his actions, oh yeah, and then polly prezbyl, who had her legally owned huns taken away by the cheektowaga pd about two hours before her violent ex-husband showed up at her house and stabbed her to death.
if your asking whether bucky phillips was ever in the custody of the cheektowaga police though, the answer is no.
and george, to accuse people of “editorializing” on this site is beyond ridiculous. there is nothing but “editorializing” on this site. as for my paper, i own it, and can do whatever i want. in case you missed it, the niagara falls reporter last week got credit in the ontario parliment for exposing the dirty dealings that led to the maid of the mist’s canadian contract, that’s reporting. the contract will now go out for bid for the first time in history.
legally owned guns, of course.
Hey Hudson … are you aware that the BPD – according to H.Mac Gipson the commissioner took responsibility for not putting out a region wide attempt to locate for March because they thought they knew where she was going? http://www.buffalonews.com/cityregion/easternsuburbs/story/613476.html
Was David Grace a convicted sex offender? Did he rape anyone while he was out?
Coery Scheeler was caught in the parking lot, numbnuts.
Darius Pridgen SUPPORTS GLASSCOT you drunken fool.
The Chosen Few are in DEPEW, but don’t let that stop your desperate little rant.
WTF does where Sanchez lived, or any of that other nonsense have to do with Glascott? Man, you are a fukking dolt.
Are you trying to compare those claims the fact that Buford T Howard refused to post an officer in the kitchen which resulted in the death of a trooper, a civilian, the wounding of two more troopers and millions of taxpayer dollars to search?How about the fact that he is being sued by the State AND Feds …. who’s going to pay for THAT? Nice try Gollum.
Hudson, do you feel Tim Howard should be re-elected as Sheriff of Erie County? No equivocations, no Glascott comparisons. A Yes or No vote based on his job accomplishments would be great .
Thanks.
chris…to answer your question, yes, i would vote for sheriff howard. without equivocation. you say no glascott comparisons, but glascott’s entire campaign, and the entreaties of his supporters at wnymedia and elsewhere, have amounted to nothing more than a list of bad things that have happened under howard’s watch. apparently, the political thinking behind this would lead one to vote for any life form who happened to be on the other ticket. i don’t make decisions that way.
glascott’s own record is not spotless, as i’ve pointed out in several posts. even his current employers passed him over when the cheektowaga police chief spot opened up. he has absolutely no experience managing an organization with more than 1,000 employees, he has no experience managing an organization a quarter that size.
here in the falls, we saw what can happen when you bring a guy from outside the department in to lead it, when former mayor irene elia brought chris carlin over from the sheriff’s dept. some years back. it was a disaster. my phone rang every day with calls from cops of every rank, anxious to get rid of the interloper, loath to take orders from someone who had less time on the department than they did. it was a nightmare for carlin, it was bad for the city and bad for the nfpd. i suspect the same thing would happen if glascott won. the fact that the benevolent associations of the buffalo pd, the nfta pd the state police and the county sheriff’s have all endorsed howard also weighs heavily. cops like him.
now let me ask you; are you voting for glascott? and no bucky phillips stories. what is it about glascott that inspires your trust and support?
in the interest of full disclosure, i’ve met howard a couple of times, years ago, before he became sheriff at law enforcement events here. he was always in the company of pat gallivan, who has a lot of good friends here, particularly nfpd chief of detectives ernie palmer, who is a friend of mine.
I’m glad you don’t live in Erie County, we already have enough voters who blindly reward massive failure with re-election. I wonder how badly one must have to fail in public office for Mike Hudson to think you deserve replacement? Maybe a candidate just needs to personally wrong you in order to gain your disapproval.
Yes, I am voting for Glascott. He is a qualified and decorated police officer, a graduate of the FBI Academy and I like him. Due to the massive size of Howard’s professional failure, a warm body would be an improvement and Glascott is more than a warm body, he’s a qualified replacement. The “issues” you have cribbed from Baynes about Glascott in Cheektowaga have been proven false at least a dozen times on this website by various commenters, so I won’t bring them up again.
“what is it about glascott that inspires your trust and support?”
Perhaps it’s the fact that he’s not currently being sued by the U.S. Department of Justice.
See, we like to employ the philosophy of when we see gross incompetence and (in the opinion of the Attorney General) criminal behavior from our Sheriff, we vote the bum out.
wow, so another attack on howard rather than showing even the slightest bit of evidence that glascott is even remotely qualified for the job. that tells me that there is no such evidence.
another question for those who sign their posts with a true name (alan, chris & marc), do any of you count any law enforcement personnel among your friends? as in they’ve been at your house for a cup of coffee and you’ve been to their house for a beer?
@mike hudson, funny you should criticize Chris for bringing up Howard’s failures when you went out of your way in the second paragraph of your “don’t bring up Glascott” comment to bring up Glascott.
Pot, kettle.
I don’t count any law enforcement personnel as my friends, because I generally dislike and distrust people, so I don’t have very many friends, full stop. With that said, I fail to see how one’s personal friendships with anyone should have anything to do with the Howard/Glascott race. And for what it’s worth, I’ve heard from many, many people in law enforcement – Democrats and Republicans alike, Sheriff’s deputies and non-deputies alike, that Glascott is a good guy, a good cop, and knows that the solution to the issues now befalling Erie County’s jail system can easily be solved by retaining well-qualified people to run them, rather than filling posts with friends and contributors who have no experience with anything.
Furthermore, since, as you point out, Glascott is not the police chief in Cheektowaga, I fail to see how incidents that beset the Cheektowaga police force are chargeable to Glascott. It’s important to remember that Howard is the elected sheriff overseeing the entire sheriff’s department and he literally has yet to (1) acknowledge any mistakes or missteps; and (2) take action to correct what’s been pointed out to him by New York State and the federal Justice Department as serious, gross negligence in overseeing the jail system.
chris…howard is also a graduate of the fbi academy and has a master’s degree in criminal justice. what sort of degree does glascott hold?
Glascott holds a Ph.D in Not Getting Sued By New York State And The Federal Government
@Hudson. Most sheriffs are “outsiders” before they take charge… wasn’t Gallivan? Howard was only from “within” because he had been appointed undersheriff by Gallivan before he jumped ship mid-term to get his 120K a year for two-days a week parole board gig from Pataki. I know literally dozens of ECSD deputies and Corrections officers, and I can think of only a handful that are satisfied with Howard and who he puts in charge. They are tired of being emabarrassed. They are tired of favoritism. They are tired of no training, no bullets to qualify at he range, driving 200K miles plus patrol vehicles when jail administrators get take-home new DeLacy ford SUV’s. I could go on and on, The point is that as usual you have absoluyely no clue what you arew talking about.
\
I guess Glascotts “qualifications” which include the same FBI academy incidentally, and he was an instructor at the County Police Academy as well, remain to be seen. What DOESN”T remain to be seen is what a fuck-up Howard is. Go back to looking at the dead rat in the alley and leave the Erie County politics to those it affects. Howard is to law enforcement what the “reporter” is to newspapers … a fucking joke.
hey alan, as we say here at the reporter….CAAAAA-CHING!
Yes, you do, don’t you.
The only time you say CAAAA-CHING at the free weekly is when a Pepsi can blows in the door from the trash-sewn street. What’s the big story this week, another conspiracy to keep the birdcage liners from the shut-ins? Riveting stuff there, Perry White.
haterade, i don’t usually respond to you because you’re such an asshole, but just this once i’ll answer your question.
the big story this week was about how the niagara falls reporter uncovered the questionable nature of jimmy glynn’s $1 billion no-bid contracts with ontario and new york to operate the maid of the mist for the next 40 years. the ontario parliment felt the reporting to be such that they rescinded the contract and are now throwing it open to bid. during the process, reporter articles were read into the record at parliment. you probably missed that since you don’t read the reporter, and the glynns have enough juice around here to keep the gazette and the buffalo news from looking into it.
I’d assume that whomever wanted Glynn exposed paid Hudson to do it.
This thread is neither the fucking Mike Hudson hate thread, nor the Mike Hudson appreciation thread. Any more off-topic comments get shitcanned, no further warning.
thank you alan.
Can you start a Mike Hudson hate thread then?
Please?
How’s about everyone taking a chill pill unil the results are in? This isn’t getting anyone anywhere. BTW, If I can remember John’s name, so should the rest of you. At least it was interesting to find out BP has massive trust issues with his fellow citizens. I thought Liberals loved everyone!
As a former REPUBLICAN… BP, you sure metamorphosis(ed) into a nymph. I understand that the larvae differ between political parties… but come on. I know this is a private own blog but you should be open about “pay to play”