Michael Gainer Back In At Buffalo ReUse

The Board of Directors of Buffalo ReUse announced this evening that Michael Gainer has accepted a position with the organization as the Program Director.

The responsibilities of the position of Program Director were agreed by the Board and are as follows:

Program Director, Buffalo ReUse:

• Provides monthly deconstruction and salvage report, and program status. This is to include what jobs have been completed, in-progress, signed and prospects. All jobs discussed are to include estimated costs and revenue expected.
• Directs field operations for deconstruction and salvage activities.
• Coordinates subcontracted services such as utility cuts, asbestos surveys, abatements, excavators and other as needed.
• Follows up on job leads, responsible for job estimates and providing estimates for financial review prior to contract execution.
• Directs staff training of deconstruction and salvage activities.
• Coordinate safety and environmental compliance training for staff members.
• Pursue funding opportunities.
• Instrumental in strategic development and implementation of existing and future community programs. Member of the Strategic Community Development Committee.

Michael’s effective hire date is 10/19/09.

This brings to a close a summer of discontent at ReUse which included Gainer’s unexpected firing, the ascension of Harvey Garrett to Interim Executive Director, membership actions, the resignation of Harvey Garrett as Interim Executive Director, the election of a completely new Board of Directors, and the re-hiring of Michael Gainer to do what he does best; focus on deconstruction, training and evangelizing.  The Board is putting in place a new staff structure and policies to manage operations, financial records, and legal compliance.

Buffalo ReUse has its work cut out for it over the next several months as they work to earn back the confidence of the local foundational community and other grant makers, but these appear to have been growing pains for a vital and dynamic organization which fills such a critical need in the City of Buffalo.

Buffalo ReUse Announces New Board Members

Buffalo ReUse Announces Newly Elected Board of Directors

At its annual meeting October 7, the members of Buffalo ReUse elected a Board of Directors to lead the organization through the next phase of its growth. Newly elected members are Vincent Kuntz, Keith James, Alison Mueller, David Laguerre and Daniel Ash. Michele Johnson was elected to her second two-year term. Vincent Kuntz was elected Board President.

Kuntz said “We wish to thank outgoing Board President Stephanie Simeon, Board Members Jessica Biegaj, Katie Biggie, Darren Kempner, Kirstin Lowry Sommers, Adam Wilson and Trevor Torcello for their dedicated service to our organization. We wish them all the best in their future endeavors and expect to maintain a productive relationship as we all work to improve neighborhoods in the City of Buffalo.”

Also announced at the meeting was the transition of Interim Executive Director Harvey Garrett to a short-term consulting position. Alison Mueller, Board Secretary, said “We thank him for his service as we navigated through a challenging period of our growth.”

Brief Bios of New Board Members

Daniel Ash

Daniel is an Information Security Specialist with experience in planning, deploying and supporting information systems, including IT policy and compliance, as well as audit and risk management. As a member of the Buffalo ReUse’s Board, Daniel’s skills will further the development of its asset and risk management policies and operations and also strengthen ReUse’s information security systems. As a longtime customer and volunteer of ReUse, Daniel is committed and ready to serve the organization’s mission, vision and values.

Keith James

Keith is a longtime resident of Buffalo’s East Side community and has spent many years volunteering in public service for his community and the greater City of Buffalo. Keith is also a Fire Fighter for the City of Buffalo. With Board of Directors experience, Keith first became interested in ReUse because of its concept and vision, which is to serve and strengthen an under-served community from within.

Michele Johnson

Michele is a founding Member of the organization and also an original member of the Board of Directors for Buffalo ReUse. In addition to her longtime service and commitment to Buffalo ReUse, Michele is also a co-founder of both the Mayor’s Anti-Flipping Task Force and Broadway Fillmore Alive. She served as a Housing Court Liaison in the Fillmore District, was Producer of the local documentary “Flipped”, is a mother of four, and a longtime East Side resident.

Vince Kuntz

Vince is a building contractor, specializing in preservation, and as such, he has been salvaging, reusing, and recycling building materials since the 1980′s. Vince is also a certified Carpentry Instructor at the Construction Training Center of WNY. A supporter of ReUse’s business and mission since its inception, Vince looks forward to the challenge of making ReUse’s work even safer and more cost effective in addition to helping ReUse grow its educational outreach programs and training activities.

David Laguerre

David is a longtime resident of Buffalo’s East Side community. He has spent the majority of his professional career working for one local company and has served in several capacities, including maintenance, collections, billing, and accounts receivable. David is looking forward to serving as a personal link between Buffalo ReUse and the people and community ReUse serves.

Alison Mueller

Alison is Director of Merchant Supply Systems for a worldwide industrial gas and equipment technology company and has served as an officer in the Air National Guard. Having moved to Buffalo three years ago, Alison is excited by the renewal underfoot in this city. As a volunteer for ReUse, she believes in its mission and programs that offer opportunities and skill sets to those who might not otherwise have an opportunity to learn them. Alison also looks forward to bringing her corporate experience to ReUse, linking hands-on operations to defined business goals and objectives.

The Dick Jauron Song

After Dick Jauron stoically led the Buffalo Bills to yet another embarrassing loss, this time to the Miami Dolphins, my thoughts are best summed up by giving a listen to the classic “Dick Jauron Song”.

UPDATE 11/17/09  Dick Jauron was fired by Bills Owner Ralph Wilson…finally.

If the Bills are only going to be around for another couple of years, why not ask Ralph to dump this chump and let Thurman Thomas, Darryl Talley, Kent Hull and Jim Kelly have a go at coaching this team?  It can’t hurt and we’d at least get straight answers at press conferences and LIKE our team again.

Rep. Alan Grayson’s Greatest Hits

Rep. Alan Grayson (D, FL) will undoubtedly be all over the news today for the following unapologetic slamming of Republicans

His statement on the floor of Congress which caused a controversy:

It’s important to remember that he isn’t necessarily making blind accusations here.  Several Republicans have taken to the floor and made statements which informed Grayson’s speech yesterday.

His non-apology apology:

Doubling down on his non-apology apology in front of corporate media enablers at CNN:

As a dedicated C-SPAN nerd, I’ve been a fan of Alan Grayson’s antics on the floor for about a year.  He spices up floor debates with gimmicks, but he also kicks a whole lot of ass in the House Financial Services Committee.

I’d like to pull a few of my favorite Alan Grayson videos featuring his tough questioning of Federal Reserve personnel.  Plain and simple, he is a YouTube All-Star for politinerds and he asks tough questions in an attempt to figure out exactly what the Fed has done with $1,200,000,000,000.

Who did the money go to?

Who the hell is in charge at the Federal Reserve?

This one is my favorite.  He asks if the Federal Reserve has engaged in market frontrunning.  The general counsel for the Federal Reserve is totally flummoxed.

Is he a grandstanding muckraker?  Probably, but he’s one of the few guys in Congress asking tough questions, regardless of his reasons for doing so.  After all, we are talking about $1.2 Trillion in money which has been lent/spent on the bailout of our financial industry and a healthcare system in horrible disrepair.  It would be nice if more Congresspeople spent their time on these two issues rather than worrying about fucking ACORN and birth certificates.

The Truth About ACORN

Rachel Maddow did a great job last night boiling the ACORN smear campaign down to its essence.  Enjoy.

Insurance Reform On A Napkin

Last year, I read a great book titled “The Back Of The Napkin: Solving Problems and Selling Ideas with Pictures“.  The premise is that through our reliance on words, industry terminology and buzzword slang, we have made complex business problems more difficult to solve.  He encourages a new approach, visual thinking.  Simply taking ideas and sketching them out in order to create a simplistic view of the problem which promotes creative discussion and solutions.

I generally loathe business books, especially those written by anyone in the marketing industry, but I found this one to be a powerful tool as I go about my day-to-day trudge through the creative wasteland of corporate information technology organizations.

The author of the book, Dan Roam, partnered up with a healthcare marketing strategist to create what has been call, un-ironically enough, as the “best presentation in the world for 2009“.

They decided to take a step back from the constant stream of purposeful disinformation presented in the ongoing healthcare debate to lay out a simple set of facts and describe the problem set.  I might quibble with some of their statements and conclusions, but this is one of the clearest presentations on healthcare that I have seen.  If President Obama had started out the summer with something simple like this in a televised address to the American people, we’d be much closer to a solution to this multi-generational problem.

I think the visual thinking method helps smart people talk to the vast majority of dummies in our society by boiling complex issues down to the intelligence level of your average Oklahoma house frau who thinks Sarah Palin is just like her, dagnabbit!.  Let me know what you make of the presentation.

Teabaggers Endorse County Legislature Candidates

I know when a candidate is running for office, he or she doesn’t really want to turn down the support of any group.  It’s tough to alienate people who might support your campaign with volunteer hours or money.  However, I would encourage Kevin Hardwick, Lynne Dixon, Dino Fudoli and Shelly Schratz (heretofore dubbed “The Collins Four”) to take a pass on this endorsement in their campaigns for Erie County Legislature.

TEA PARTY COALITION ENDORSES FOUR CHALLENGERS FOR COUNTY LEGISLATURE

Leaders of the local tea party movement are endorsing four challengers for the Erie County Legislature and promising to make the growing tea party movement a force in local politics. The group also includes local business owners and bloggers.

Endorsed candidates are Dino Fudoli (5th Dist.), Kevin Hardwick (10th Dist.), Lynn Dixon (12th Dist.), and Shelly Schratz (14th Dist.).

Rus Thompson of TeaNewYork.com said, “These candidates have earned our support by pledging to support smaller government and a more business-friendly environment.”

Jim Ostrowski, editor of the blog, PoliticalClassDismissed.com, said the group is putting forth its own issue agenda of cutting the county budget by ten percent, cutting the county workforce by five percent and abolishing all pensions for elected officials statewide. “Many career politicians are hanging around for decades just for the pension,” he said. “The best form of term limits is abolishing pensions.”

The tea party coalition includes:

Allen Coniglio (ReformNYS)*
Ellie Corcoran (Primary Challenge)
David DiPietro (former Mayor of East Aurora)
Laurie Kostrzewski (ReformNYS)
Jim Ostrowski (PoliticalClassDismissed.com)
Mike Rebmann (nbjr.speakupwny.com)
Leonard Roberto (Primary Challenge)
Roy Scherrer (Tonawanda)
Rus Thompson (TeaNewYork.com)
Jul Thompson (TeaNewYork.com)

You’re probably familiar with Jim Ostrowski and Mike Rebmann from the libertarian brain drool they leave all over the various WNYMedia comment sections.  However, I’d like to introduce you to one of the other “endorsers”.  The following are statements or emails sent to a local mailing list called “ReformNYS“.

Allen Coniglio (Group Moderator of ReformNYS):

Here is a good article which succinctly outlines just what I believe Obama will do by the 2010 elections. As I have said many times on this list, I believe that obama has plans to legalize illegal aliens in this country, possibly limiting it to only those from North America which would be mainly Mexicans, and thus guarantee himself and the dems a victory in the midterm elections. This, of course, would come at a time when polls are showing that the dems are going to take a beating of historic proportions in 2010 and possibly lose control of both the House and the Senate. Truly, this would be an act of war against the American people, using a foreign army of illegals to steal from American voters something which obama and the dems could not win in an honest election. This will, of course, spark widesprad protests, possibly some violence, and would give obama an excuse to call out the national guard and place America under martial law.

At this point, he would have near dictatorial powers and he would then constitute his dreamed of “civilian” armed corps which he has spoken of openly on more than one occaion. I am telling you now that obama and his demons will not allow the American people to freely decide the 2010 elections and after that any future elections if it appears that he is likely to lose ground. It will be his actions during those elections which will bring in the New World Order which George Bush the first spoke so openly of and which Clinton the first lusted after almost as much as his afternoon trysts with his congressional pages.  Henry Kissinger has spoken openly of obama being in position to now establish the New World Order.

If you have any interest in Biblical prophecy, you might like this one.

obama is ruling by deceit. He is a liar.

Allen

Or, this one:

Look at this. Here is information on the upcoming swine flu vaccinations and how they will attempt to get rid of those who refuse to take the shots. We are dealing with bad people here. Do not doubt that for a minute.

http://www.infowars.com/soldier-former-state-trooper-speak-out-on-forced-vaccinations/

Allen

Well, allllllrighty then.  Let’s chalk up an endorsement for the “Collins Four” from New World Order guy predicting Mexican invasions and forced vaccinations.  Good times.

Each fringe missive by Coniglio or one of his pals is greeted with email affirmations and the forwarding of right wing urban legends about chips being implanted in Americans for tracking purposes, internment camps for republican dissidents, and mandated food shortages by Obama.  These people are the heart of the birther and deather movements and still suspect Obama is a terrorist thug or a muslim sleeper agent sent to take the last few pennies from their pockets.

You really should sign up for the list just for the pure entertainment value provided by the fearful children of the local right wing.

While it’s fun to laugh at the people in the tinfoil hats, it’s probably unwise to accept their vocal endorsement of your campaign and platform.  Do you really want to be associated with this kind of garbage?  An endorsement from people who make Glenn Beck look sane?

Gaughan Wins In Orchard Park

The Town of Orchard Park today voted to reduce the size of their government, not a small victory for civic activist Kevin Gaughan who said, “I’m proud to see the voters take control of their future.”

This is the third victory for Gaughan and his organization as previous efforts to reduce town council seats passed earlier this year in West Seneca and Evans.  The vote today was “Yes” to downsize the town council by two seats or “No” to maintain the status quo.  The vote was, of course, controversial in this town of 27,000 people with entrenched Village and Town governments and a very parochial sensibility.

However, Gaughan put together a grassroots canvassing operation in which voters were visited multiple times throughout the summer.  A last minute canvassing by a group called “Concerned Citizens for Responsible Orchard Park” and rumored to be organized by town council member Nan Ackerman, cited a recent study by UB’s Regional Institute which refuted Gaughan’s position that downsizing governments would reap cost savings and increase citizen participation.  From the report:

Any cost savings from downsizing are negligible and must be weighed against disadvantages in representation and responsiveness.

Gaughan responded to the report in an interview with WNED:

“Right now, Orchard Park taxpayers owe $2.3 million dollars to the 27 former Orchard Park councilmembers who have been receiving lifetime benefits. That’s called legacy costs and that’s what’s destroying the state of New York and each of our town’s and village governments,” said Gaughan.

Gaughan believes that reducing the size of town and village boards would also “reduce the decibel level of this turf protection” seen throughout local politics.  UB Researchers also say there’s a greater chance for corruption with fewer people in charge. Gaughan says if that were true there would be no corruption in Albany and Washington where there are hundreds of politicians.

However, it seems to me that arguing about the cost of town government is a canard.  Plain and simple, Gaughan’s effort is intended to get people off their asses and take control of their government.  To give them an opportunity to define their own representation, increase citizen involvement and eventually empower people to have their voice heard.  As a region, we have been disempowered by redundant layers of government and our participation at the voting booth and at government hearings or public meetings reflects that disempowerment.

Also, his efforts to downsize have resulted in a re-ignition of the regionalism debate he began in 1997 with a series of conferences at the Chautauqua Institution.  One of the primary arguments that has emerged in opposition to his efforts to downsize town governments was that it would be more sensible to regionalize.  Probably not a coincidence…

When it seemed as if the flicker of hope for a regionalized Western New York government was extinguished by a county wide economic meltdown in 2005, Gaughan took a step back and recalculated.  His comments at the time,

“Reform efforts failed because creating consensus for change in our community is next to impossible. And the chief reason for that difficulty is our inordinately large number of politicians.  With 439 elected officials throughout Erie County – each with individual purposes, powers, and views – accountable leadership, or just plain leadership, has eluded us.”

That lack of leadership and a surplus of government obstinacy was evident today in Orchard Park.  By selecting a special election date on a Wednesday between the primary and general elections, choosing only one polling place, putting that polling place in the basement of the municipal building, lack of signs or directions to the voting booth, selecting odd voting hours which didn’t allow for people to vote before 11AM and blocking the parking lot this morning with barricades and police to reduce “congestion” in the parking lot.  It was a mess.  Local voter Rich Wilson said, “Honestly, I planned to vote ‘No’ on downsizing until I got down here today and saw all these shenanigans.  If the local council members are so opposed to this and will go to these lengths to block participation, maybe Gaughan’s got it right.”

Maybe Gaughan does have it right, but Councilwoman Ackerman sees it differently, “I think its sad, I think it’s misguided.”  It should be noted that Ackerman’s seat is one of the two to be downsized.

You know what’s misguided?  Citizenry who do nothing while people stream out of the region at an unrelenting pace while private sector jobs evaporate and legacy government costs balloon.  Tonight, Kevin Gaughan gave people a mechanism to have their voice heard.  It’s up to us to take it from here.

What A Difference An Election Makes

How quickly the script flips when you hand out a massive electoral ass-kicking, eh?

Two weeks ago, Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown was at a press conference on the waterfront and this is how it played out:

From the Buffalo News:

Yeah, not so good.

This week, the press (aside from Jim Heaney at The Buffalo News) has moved on from the Leonard Stokes/One Sunset story and is now being reeled in by the Pigeon-bait of whether or not Mayor Brown is going to join the anticipated Andrew Cuomo for NY Governor ticket as the candidate for Lt. Governor.

It’s always amusing to watch the broadcast media so blatantly drop the “zOMG SCANDAL STORY OF THE CENTURY!!@!” and simply move on to business as usual.

It’s the worst kept secret in the state that Andrew Cuomo will be the Democratic nominee for New York Governor.  Is it possible that he might choose Byron Brown as a running mate?  Sure.  Is it plausible?  Maybe.  Is it probable?  Not really.  If no charges are ultimately brought in the Stokes investigation, he might have a shot.  Even then, Cuomo has to weigh whether or not adding an allegedly crooked Mayor to his “law and order” ticket is going to play well in the NYC tabloids and with the State Senate asses he’ll need to kiss in order to win and accomplish fuck all anything.

I’ve heard from numerous sources that Pigeon was the originator of the rumor and it’s always amusing to see the media bite on this kind of cheap bait like carp.  The rumored possibility of a Brown “promotion” allowed Byron to use it as leverage to get certain common councilmen to essentially sit out the Mayoral primary.  After all, if Brown is moving up, that shakes up the whole game and opens up possibilities and patronage for several councilmen whose path to promotion is otherwise blocked.

I think the smug little look on Pete Cutler’s face as the Mayor answered questions about whether or not he would serve his full term tells the story.

Wanted For Treason

Change around a few words in this leaflet and it reads like a Glenn Beck show transcript about Obama, n’est-ce pas?

The point being…the more things change, the more they stay the same.