Former US Congressman and Mayor of New York, Ed Koch decided not to support Governor Paterson, as far as we can tell.  Mastering political double-speak, this is what he said (as per New York Daily News, Feb 17):

“And I thought he was living last week in a Kafka-esque situation, where the tabloids were saying he did this, he did that and we base it on a story that the New York Times will run…and I said to myself, ‘I’m going to stand up for him.’”"And when I was asked by a reporter, ‘Are you for David?’ I said ‘yes.’ And she said, ‘Are you for him because of what he’s done?’ I said, ‘No. I am for him, in effect, out of sympathy for his being in a Kakfa-esque situation.’ You can’t do this to people, use rumors to destroy them…But I’m not really for him.”

So, the governor is in a “Kafkaesque” situation, therefore  Koch responds with a Kafkaesque statement?  Apparently Koch believes that Paterson will withdraw his candidacy.

“…I will not be with him when he makes his announcement. And I wish him well, but I believe he will step down no matter if he announces next week and that the pressures of the president and others will provide a position for him elsewhere, because as Carl makes the point, you have to worry about the party. And all these people think they’re gonna be dragged down.”

Koch must be listening to a different fellow than we heard speak on Saturday.  I believe that David Paterson’s closing statement went something like,

“I’m black, I’m blind and I’m still alive and running for governor of New York.”

Is that really subject to interpretation?

Welcome to another week that was on Rochesterturning.  The MCDC volunteer dinner is shut down, the Regional Market Authority might be, Governor Paterson was in town, and a proposal to dump fracking waste was denied.

Let’s get started.

Local Scene

Mayoral Control - MCDC volunteer dinner was a casualty of the  mayoral control of schools debate.  The teachers union with other union support planned a picket and after Monroe County Democratic Chairman Morelle canceled the dinner,  they held a Press Conference instead.   So, the next question is, will the Mayor or one of his events, like say the Mayors Ball, be the target of some action?

County Exec Brooks locks her self in the dressing room and disses the downtown theater proposal.  If only there were downtown development that includes an Arts Theater called RenSquare.   All that is missing is the feet stomping as she exists stage wrong.

The Genesee valley Regional Market Authority - should it stay, or should it go?   An Authority is a quasi governmental entity that has special powers or more specifically, plays by different rules.  In this case,  it is able to offer businesses below market property use rates.   Sounds great if you are a small business just getting started and all, but not all businesses in the market  are small start up businesses.    Maggie Brooks is against it, as expected, and we poke at some of the talking screaming points.

A view from the State

Katies Law:  Assemblyman Joe Morelle is sponsoring a bill to extract DNA samples if you are arrested (not convicted, just arrested).  Currently DNA samples are obtained if you are convicted.  Seems a wee bit unconstitutional.

Maggie Brooks endorses Rick Lazio for Governor - no kidding.   Speaking of Governor - Governor Paterson kicked off his campaign at stops across the State.  One of those stops was Rochester.  We were there and will have more as time permits.   The very short version is, there were few elected Democrats at the kick off - no Mayor for example, so not a lot of elected support which highlights a party rift.   Paterson was a powerful speaker and made a strong case for his reelection.

Now, assuming Cuomo tosses his hat in the Governor’s race  - who wants to be Attorney General?

Meanwhile, there is a plan to delay State tax refunds - a plan, if implemented, will surely backfire.

Frack that - Remember all that water that gets pumped into the ground to extract natrual gas?  The water surry with hazardous chemicals?  Well it has to go somewhere - and guess what? -What if it were put into an underground well near Keuka lake?   What could possibility go wrong?   Well, the application to do just that was withdrawn by an out of state energy concern.  This is a huge victory for the Residents of the 29th and Congressman Massa who listened to them.

Federal level

Who else wants to be U.S. Senator - Add Mort Zuckerman to the list for the seat currently occupied by Kirsten Gillibrand.  Meanwhile, Harold Ford came to Rochester to make his case.

Run for the Hills - 10% of the GOP House Caucus is leaving.  5% of the Democratic caucus is leaving.    Bill Owens (D, NY-23) isn’t one of them, but if  conservative Doug Hoffman has is way - he will be.  Seems like Hoffman is pandering - saying no to entitlement cuts.  Do you believe him?

Health Care - there is a move a foot for the Public Option. How is that defined this time, because last time it wasn’t so public nor was it an option.

It was retro amateur hour from the Tom Reed campaign.  Publishing a Press Release linking Congressman Massa with the communist party policies - ergo Massa is a ____.   Reed’s actions are taken down by WETM-TV.

Meanwhile - Massa’s office kept their focus on constituents by keeping the lights on during the recent D.C.  snowstorm.

Quick Clicks

Bringing War home.  There is a cost of war - any war - and this movie shows it.

Praising the Kennedy family.

Wingnuts continues- Scarborough, Cannots, and Global Warming.

That’s it - see you next week…

Assuming Andrew Cuomo runs for governor who would run for AG?  the D&C had a article that covered the Democrats running or considering.  They are former Insurance Superintendent Eric Dinallo, Nassau DA Kathleeen Rice, Assemblyman Richard Brodsky, Sean Coffey, Sen. Eric Schneiderman or Denise O’Donnell.  Who got the most ink?  Well, Dinallo - comments about Rice were lost in the article in my opinion.  Have a look at the extracted content below.

Dinallo

Former Insurance Superintendent Eric Dinallo, who has raised $1.8 million, has told donors he will return their contributions if Cuomo stays put.

… Dinallo came in January, one of four visits to the Flower City since leaving the Paterson administration in July.

Dinallo, of New York City, became close with Monroe County Democratic Chairman Joseph Morelle through Morelle’s chairmanship of the Assembly Insurance Committee, though Morelle has not made an endorsement. By the end of next week, Dinallo will have met in person with 35 Democratic county chairs, according to a spokesman.
…
Dinallo worked in the attorney general’s office under Eliot Spitzer and in the Manhattan district attorney’s office.

Rice

Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice was in Rochester last week, …

Rice has raised $1.4 million and has $2.4 million on hand.

…

On her trip last week, Rice said the “distinctions are very clear.”

“The choices are a wealthy corporate attorney, career Albany politicians and me, a career prosecutor,” she said.

Coffey and Schneiderman

Two other people exploring a run are Democrat Sean Coffey of Westchester County, a former corporate lawyer and assistant U.S. attorney, who has raised $1.7 million, and Sen. Eric Schneiderman, D-Manhattan, who has $1 million on hand.

Brodsky

Assemblyman Richard Brodsky, D-Westchester County, is another potential candidate and has $1.3 million on hand.

O’Donnell

Another possible Democratic candidate is Denise O’Donnell of Buffalo, commissioner of the Division of Criminal Justice Services in Paterson’s administration. She campaigned for attorney general in 2006 but lost the endorsement to Cuomo.

Any opinions?  What do you want in an Attorney General?

Just when you thought that it was safe to go back in the water…,

you may get hit with another teabag. A life long Resident of Buffalo and CEO of Ellicott Development, Carl Paladino, is thinking about answering that bugle call.  From Swing State Project:

• NY-Gov: I can’t see this being of any interest unless something goes seriously wrong and we somehow wind up with a David Paterson/Rick Lazio matchup and we need to shunt off some right-wing votes to get Paterson over the hump. But now there’s a teabagger-linked rich guy, Buffalo real estate developer Carl Paladino, saying that he’s considering a gubernatorial run, and that he “would go in as a pure independent.”

I had thought the Tea Party would have been long over by now.  Come-on, haven’t they burst your pretty balloon and taken the moon away, already?!

My only response to this is (and this is coming from a long time Paterson supporter.): Run, Andrew, run!

Pedro Espada, the downstate N.Y. Senator and last man standing in the Gang of Four  Three  Two One stand-off last year, says that Attorney General Cuomo is picking on him for political reasons and and engaging in prosecutorial misconduct.

What’s the problem? Espada is CEO of a non-profit chain of health clinics, and contracted its cleaning services to a for-profit company he owns. There is also a question about whether the entities secretly covered some of his campaign expenses, a violation of NY campaign law. A hearing is scheduled next week.

The office says in court papers that it has found evidence of potential fraud, violations of state election law, state law regarding nonprofit groups and state labor law, as well as potential tax liabilities. The investigation by Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo is focused on Mr. Espada’s role as chief executive of the Soundview HealthCare Network, a Bronx-based group of tax-exempt health clinics.

The court filing says that Soundview has a contract with a for-profit management company, Soundview Management Enterprises L.L.C., that is controlled by Mr. Espada, allowing him “effectively to siphon off and otherwise divert money from Soundview for Mr. Espada’s own personal and political benefit.”

Evidence collected by Mr. Cuomo’s office, the filing says, suggests that money paid by Soundview to the management company was also used to “pay Mr. Espada’s campaign expenses, including printing, campaign office rent and personnel costs.”

Espada has a long track record as a self-serving opportunist. His campaign committee has been cited numerous times for violations and failure to file reports. Last year he was the pivotal player who held up the state’s businesses for weeks  in the attempt to bring Republicans to back to power in the NY Senate. Espada switched from Democrat to Republican and back again.

The short version of this post is that AG Andrew Cuomo has $16 million dollars and Gov Paterson is $5 $3 million dollars.  There is an election in November, a possible primary in September and it is only January.

Via the D&C

ALBANY — As he prepares for a likely run for governor this year, Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has amassed $16 million in his campaign account, more than five times what Gov. David Paterson reported in his coffers.

As Paterson’s campaign funds drop, Cuomo’s funds are soaring. He started the six-month filing period in July with $10 million in the bank and increased it by $6.8 million. He spent about $836,000, according to his campaign.

Paterson, meanwhile, has $2 million less than in July, dropping from $5 million to $3 million after spending about $3 million on TV ads. His campaign said he spent about $4.3 million during the six-month period.

Remember that Senate committee that was to recommend to the State Senate what to do with Hiram Monserrate who was convicted of slashing his girlfriend’s face?  Well, the findings are in and to no ones surprise they urge expulsion.  Via the D&C

ALBANY — A state Senate panel Thursday called on the Senate to vote on the expulsion of Sen. Hiram Monserrate, D-Queens, who was convicted of misdemeanor assault involving his girlfriend, before it considers other potential punishments.

…

The report states that “Senator Monserrate’s misconduct damages the integrity and the reputation of the New York state Senate and demonstrates a lack of fitness to serve in this body.”

It recommends that the full Senate vote on either Monserrate’s expulsion or censure with revocation of privileges.

The report indicates that some panel members believed it would “would be logical and efficient” for the Senate to consider a resolution for Monserrate’s expulsion first, and then consider other action if the expulsion vote fails.

Time for Hiram Monserrate to go.

From the New York Observer comes this statement from Assembly Speaker, Sheldon Silver:

“I think he’s clearly showed he’s popular and has always wanted to be governor, and I think he senses thinks it’s his opportunity.”[sic]

Not that this is any big revelation, as I think most of New York believes he is going to run (even though we ran this post back in June) but to have the beginnings of a confirmation from Sheldon Silver makes it more of a reality.

“Where I will be, let’s talk in June,” Silver said, noting this was not an outright endorsement of Cuomo.

Cuomo drew accolades from one member of RT when he came to town.  Although I’ve never seen him speak, or followed him closely, I certainly admired his father and usually, Tree…….Apple, you know?

“I want to do what’s best for the Democratic Party,” Silver said. “I want to elect members of Congress, members of the Assembly, Democratic members of the Senate, and I want the strongest ticket possible out there in order to do that.”

But, call me crazy, I still admire Governor Paterson and feel he has been dealt a terrible hand-unwinnable in more ways than one.  He can only play the cards he’s been dealt.  That being said, (Did I really just write that?) the polls don’t give much hope for his chances against anybody. So, my hope is that he will ultimately make a graceful exit as Cuomo steps in for the good of the party.  We need a strong presence in the Governor’s mansion.

Remember when this bridge was suddenly closed?  I mean suddenly - without warning.

New York state transportation department officials closed the bridge Oct. 16 because of severe erosion in its massive concrete piers. New York and Vermont, which share ownership of the bridge, had already determined it needed to be replaced. But the sudden closing caught many around here by surprise.

“We knew there were issues. We didn’t think it was going to be closed like that: Bang! Close the door,” said Tom Jaquish, a 53-year-old retired construction worker from nearby Moriah, N.Y.

About 3,400 vehicles used the bridge every day, and many of those motorists live in one state and work in the other. The closing has forced some to take 100-mile detours or ride crowded ferries to reach their jobs, while local businesses that rely on bridge traffic have seen revenues plummet.

I remember thinking at the time - that the sudden discovery shouldn’t have been so sudden.

Now, via face book, Andy Arthur who watched the implosion posted this status

Yesterday, Champlain Bridge RIP. Now I am hoping they discover a structural flaw in that State Capitol, so I can watch them implode it!

So, yeah, 2010 is going to be a big year where the State legislature has to justify to voters that they deserve to be reelected.  We also get to elect a Governor, AG and Comptroller. Only Cuomo was elected to his position outright.

Unlike the Lake Champlain Bridge which we “suddenly” discovered something is wrong - we know what we have to do to in November to put New York on the right path forward.

Are any incumbent legislators worth keeping?

Now that that rascal, Rudy has pulled his hat out of the ring, the Republicans are looking around for new blood to help take this state back from the clutches of the dastardly Dems.  Rick Lazio can’t do this alone.  He needs a friendly face standing by his side, someone warm and fuzzy.  That warm and friendly face, may be our very own, county executive, Maggie Brooks:

Lazio’s growing support among Republicans — he picked up the endorsement Tuesday from Dutchess County GOP Chairman Michael McCormick — has already started talk about who he may select as a running mate. Monroe County Executive Maggie Brooks has been mentioned as a potential lieutenant-governor candidate, along with Onondaga County Executive Joanie Mahoney.

But Brooks said Tuesday that while she wouldn’t rule it out, she hasn’t had any discussions with Lazio about it.”I never close the door on an opportunity, but my heart is really being county executive because there’s so much to do here,” she said. “I need to focus on governing at the local level.”

Although it might be a good idea to run Maggie as Lt Governor to get her out of our hair, it would be much more fun to be writing about Joanie Mahoney.  Besides, Maggie has a lot to take care of here, where corruption runs rampant in the Republican run legislature.  She might actually  end up being a liability for Rick.  If they look too closely, they might just look away.

Joanie Mahoney, Joanie Mahoney, Joanie Mahoney.  Kind of rolls off of the tongue, doesn’t it?

New York Post reports that Governor Paterson hired a private dick, er, opposition researcher — the same one who dug dirt on Obama two years ago — to give Andrew Cuomo a going-over:

“Legum is the guy who did a lot of the opposition research work on Obama, and now Paterson’s people are outsourcing that kind of work on Cuomo to him,” said the source, who demanded anonymity.

…

Legum confirmed that he had been hired by Paterson’s campaign but, when asked to describe his job, insisted, “I really can’t talk about that now,” and hung up the phone.

…

Several Democratic insiders said they doubted Legum could find any new damaging facts on Cuomo, who has been heavily scrutinized for some three decades as an aide to his father, former Gov. Mario Cuomo, as federal housing secretary, as a 2002 candidate for governor, as a 2006 candidate for attorney general and, since 2007, as a statewide office holder.

Thanks to D&C columnist Denise-Marie Santiago for nailing N.S. Senator James Alesi on his “no” vote on equal marriage

…. ultimately, that vote came down to one thing. “Politically, you never vote for a bill that’s going to fail,” he says.

Huh?

“Let me rephrase that,” he continues. “Politically, a highly controversial bill should not be voted on when it’s going to fail.”

He blames the governor, for pushing the issue at a time when most voters are concerned with keeping their jobs, wanting money in their pockets, paying fewer taxes.

What about courage?

“I live in a political world …” he says. “It’s not about courage.”

Adam Bink over at Openleft has the rundown but the count was  24-38

Looks like we need a new Senate.

Oh, why I like Jeremy Moule over at City News who writes

Civil rights? Not here, not now: Senate overwhelming rejects marriage equality

You suck, New York

The State Senate has killed marriage-equality legislation, with 38 no votes and 24 yes votes. Only Democrats voted in favor.

…

No Republicans spoke on the floor during debate, and though leadership left it up to each senator to vote according to his or her conscience, none broke from GOP ranks. All of Rochester’s senators: Jim Alesi, George Maziarz, Mike Nozzolio, and Joe Robach voted no.

Check out this article by Joe Spector in the D&C:

Taxpayers pick up lawmakers’ special-session tab

ALBANY — State lawmakers came to the Capitol on Monday and left Tuesday without a deal to close the burgeoning budget deficit. But they did leave with one thing: $171 a day in stipends, a total of about $35,055 a day billed to taxpayers.

…

Some lawmakers have criticized the failed session as a waste of time and money. Paterson called lawmakers to Albany in hopes of getting them to close a $3.2 billion mid-year budget deficit. But they left without an agreement, and he’s calling them back to special session again on Monday and Tuesday.

So, the entire article gets framed as “Albany is a waste of time”.  Now, don’t get me wrong, there is 10 lbs of dysfunction crammed into a 5 pound bag.  I started to write a summary to include in this post, but I’ll have to add it to another post.

Meanwhile, our leading paper simply talks about the generic Albany and “wasting” money, admittedly a small amount.  Joe goes on and lists some quotes from lawmakers.

I’d like to see Joe ask this question - Hey, lawmaker - why is the people’s business a waste of time?

Sen. James Alesi, R-Perinton, said Tuesday was a “farce,” with leaders going in and out of session.

It was difficult to make productive use of the time when lawmakers were “at ease” during the session, Alesi said, because they had already met during recess and any impromptu meetings within the chamber could be interrupted at any time at the leaders’ discretion.

…

Sen. Joseph Robach, R-Greece, said the work done on Tuesday could have been done in half the time.

“What my day consisted of was going to conferences, attending press conferences to see what people were saying and I called constituents in Rochester. I went into session to almost immediately stand at ease for a conference of my colleagues on the Democratic side for several hours,” he said.

I’ll ignore the Assembly quotes because, well, we have the State Assembly who has the ability to pass bills.  The State Senate is the one where there is an issue, given the personal agendas and the drama that continue.  Yet, the article lumps the State Assembly and State Senate together.

How about an article that focuses on why the Senate Republicans and Democrats are not working together, instead of the standard fare - Governor calls special session, nothing gets done.  In the end, there are problems in New York State that are bigger than any of the State Senators.  Heck, bigger than the State Senate.  How is doing the people’s business a waste of time?   All the more reason that each and every incumbent should have an electoral target painted on his back.

Following up on stlo7’s post earlier today on the new website FireMonserrate.com, which encourages New York State residents to sign a petition urging leaders in the State Senate to expel Senator Hiram Monserrate, who was recently convicted of almost literally dragging his distressed girlfriend to the hospital after he “accidentally” struck her in the face with a broken beer bottle.

There are some interesting and noteworthy signers of the petition so far (I hasten to add that some of these names could coincidentally be the same names of different people who signed the petition or they could be people posing to be someone else — it’s impossible for me to tell just looking at the list. Also there are probably other office holders or community leaders who I passed over on this list because I didn’t recognize their names) –

• Paul Newell, who unsuccessfully ran against Speaker Sheldon Silver in his Assembly district in the 2008 Democratic primary
• Hon. George Farenthold, Trustee in the Village of Aurora
• Perinton’s own Nora Bredes, who is running for the County Legislature (and is gonna win!)
• Marcia Pappas, the President of the New York branch for the National Organization for Women
• And finally, Sandra L. Frankel, Brighton’s Town Supervisor was so enthusiastic, she even signed the petition twice, probably by accident. I hadn’t realized this, but apparently Frankel was the Democratic Party’s candidate for Lieutenant Governor in 1998, so she has a little bit of a statewide profile, at least within the party.

Now all we need is a few dozen state senators to sign on and we should be good to go.

P.S. If you haven’t signed the petition yet, you should: go to firemonserrate.com and scroll down to the bottom of the page.