Archive for July 27th, 2006
People are increasingly becoming fed up with the status quo in local government. The Erie County Legislature, led by Lynn Marinelli, recently refused to consider a recommendation from the Charter Review Commission for a Professional County Manager. Ms. Marinelli, and 9 other democrats, have decided that it is not in the best interests of the taxpayers to let the County Manager proposal go to a public referendum.
Among the objections cited by Marinelli is the cost. Cindy Locklear has proposed a hybrid, revenue neutral County Manager position. The current Deputy County Executive position would be converted to a professional manager position. Not only would the position require stringent educational standards and certification, it would also have well defined performance standards. This would allow a person to be removed for sub par performance.
Private industry would never consider letting someone without the proper qualifications administer the spending of hundreds of millions of dollars. Why should the taxpayers settle for anything less? Ms. Locklear (D) is joined by Kathy Konst (D), Barry Weinstein (R), John Mills (R) and Michael Ranzenhofer (R) supporting this plan.
Not only did the Legislature reject the recommendation for a Professional County Manager, they did not even debate the subject. The non-partisan, volunteer Charter Review Commission endorsed the plan by a margin of 2 to 1.
A Professional Manager would take the partisan politics out of everyday decisions, allowing the County Executive to focus on policy decisions. The concept is working very well in hundreds of municipalities across the country.
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Chicago Orders ‘Big Box’ Stores to Raise Wage (click to read the entire NY Times article)
After months of fevered lobbying and bitter debate, the Chicago City Council passed a groundbreaking ordinance yesterday requiring “big box” stores, like Wal-Mart and Home Depot, to pay a minimum wage of $10 an hour by 2010, along with at least $3 an hour worth of benefits.
The ordinance, imposing the requirement on stores that occupy more than 90,000 square feet and are part of companies grossing more than $1 billion annually, would be the first in the country to single out large retailers for wage rules.
The results will be less private investment by businesses in Chicago. Entry-level skilled workers will be shut out of jobs because the wage is too high to justify the risk of hiring them. Consumers will pay higher prices due to government intervention. This ordinance is a fine on business for doing a good job. If price increases are enacted in all locations to cover the increased costs it will amount to a mandated subsidy for Chicago workers that is paid by consumers everywhere. I would hope that the companies affected only raise the prices of their goods & services in the Chicago locations. This would result in the disastrous effects of this law becoming crystal clear to the fools who believe government redistribution of wealth mandates are beneficial.
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“Individuality is the aim of political liberty. By leaving to the citizen as much freedom of action and of being as comports with order and the rights of others, the institutions render him truly a free man. He is left to pursue his means of happiness in his own manner.”
Last night, since it was humid, I decided to go to the Erie Basin Marina looking for a cool breeze and to practice my night shooting techniques. I had mixed results as I tried different combinations of camera settings. Below are a few shots that turned out better than the rest. The Shanghai Red’s shot in the previous post was also shot last night. Click on any image to view larger sizes.
Free New York’s annual summer cocktail party will be held once again at Shanghai Red’s on the Buffalo waterfront on August 24th, from 6:30pm to 8:30pm. Here’s the details.
Last year’s was a great time at a great spot.
All candidates welcome–you’ll meet folks from all over WNY.
Maria Whyte has officially withdrawn her name for Committeewoman in 8 districts. Here is the press release, thanks to the Free New York Blog.
For Immediate Release
Contact: Maria Whyte (716) 874-3257Legislator Whyte Announces That She Has Withdrawn Her Name From 8 Committee Districts
On July 13th petitions were filed in 9 Election Districts designating Maria Whyte as a candidate for Erie ounty Democratic Committee Member. Buffalo Councilmember Joseph Golombek Jr. questioned the practice of filing one person as a candidate in multiple districts.
Joining Legislator Whyte at the press conference will be Councilmember Joseph Golombek Jr. and Erie County Democratic Chairman Leonard Lenihan.
“A mistake was made in filing petitions with my name on them for multiple Committee Districts and I have withdrawn my name as a candidate to correct the situation,” stated Legislator Whyte.
Erie County Democratic Chair Leonard Lenihan stated “We need our elected Democratic officials working together and I am glad to see Councilmember Golombek and Legislator Whyte have come together to resolve this issue.”
“As Chair of the Democratic Party, I am willing to work with Councilmember Golombek and Legislator Whyte through the Rules Committee of the Party to reform how the Board of Elections and the Election Law addresses multiple candidacy petitions,” said Lenihan.
Council Member Golombek stated that he hopes there is never a public incident of this nature ever again in Buffalo. Golombek said accusations were stated that he even accepted large donations from County Executive Giambra and was forced to pay a big penalty to the State Elections Board.
Golombek asked Chairman Lenihan to review for the record his campaign reports and Lenihan concluded that “there is no evidence that Council Member Golombek received contributions from Giambra or was forced to pay any fine to the State Board of Elections.”
-end-
Read more here.
