Hizzoner's Birthday

Happy Birthday Mayor Graham

It is the Mayor's birthday today! Hmmmm, thinking it may be 51 or possibly 52, in any event,

Happy Birthday Mayor Graham

118th Noise Reaches The Sound Meter

Last week a post described how silent the activity from any potential candidates was in the 118th Assembly district. That all changed later in the week.

Jefferson County Legislator Phil Reed is out and St. Lawrence County Clerk Patty Ritchie is still considering her options.

The Jefferson County side of the equation may not remain quiet. The word has been circulating for a while that former Supervisor Bob Cantwell's son maybe interested, but without any name recognition (obvious from this post), it will be a difficult and expensive feat to get elected. At this point, Ritchie remains the candidate with the highest name ID and therefore best possible shot at winning the election.

The Democratic side, there is a little or no roar from or for Greg Pacquin and the indication that county-wide elected Jefferson County Sheriff John Burns' name has seemed to reemerge as a possible candidate is a sign the Democrats may have done some polling.

Let's take a look at the potentials.

Ritchie is an aggressive campaigner, who is affable and charming; she is also very successful at fulfilling her objectives as county clerk and instituting initiatives that have resulted in vast gains of revenue for the department and service to St. Lawrence County residents. She can be mild tempered but very aggressive when necessary. Her performance as County Clerk demonstrates her ability to drill down into issues and figure them out, something necessary of an Assembly person.

Burns is quite a contrast to Ritchie. He has been successful at the law enforcement side of the Sheriff's department leaving little doubt he is a good cop. But, Burns has a natural affinity for spending money that is clearly evident in the Sheriff's department, where it is easy to spend taxpayer's money without any accountability for raising taxes. This lack of fiscal discipline is also evident in past business ventures that were plagued by problems as a result. In sharp contrast to Ritchie's demeanor, Burns is also known to have a hot tempered form of manner. Burns is well versed in law enforcement issues, but depth of knowledge in other areas important to taxpayers of this district will be a concern.

These fiscal situations are fair for the voters to consider as to how an Assembly person would manage taxpayer's money. If this match up comes to be, then residents in the 118th can expect some sharp contrasts between the two candidates.

The next Assembly person should be elected on the ability to do the job, the Democrats, following the lead of Hillary Clinton, have a hard time restraining themselves from negative campaigning and Assemblyman Ron Canastrari has already begun the mud slinging.

Tidbits

Nick Spano, former State Senator from the 35th district has declined a run for that seat this year after giving it some consideration. “This was a very difficult decision. As my father would always tell me, never go back, always move forward.”

John McHugh received a low score 15% from conservative The Club For Growth, but he is in good company as every other New York representative from the House and Senate scored low. This should please Danger Democrat.

Danger Democrat reports 112 people showed up for the spring dinner of the party, that does not seem like a lot of people considering the activity of that party and the big win in the special election. The Republican dinner is in the same place, the North Side Improvement League, sometime soon. It will be interesting to see what numbers they put up for attendance as they seem weaker than the Democrats as of late. "Eighty percent of success is showing up." Woody Allen

The Mayor gets Quick Draw according to the Watertown Daily Times

Ritchie maybe on board for the 118th but GOP Chairwoman Janet Kelly from St Lawrence County is not according to an article in the Times. This would not be the first time Ritchie ran a race and won without Kelly's support, so Ritchie is probably not really concerned.

Fireworks in the 118th - RACC Responds

Today Assemblyman Ron Canestrari, Chairman of the Democrat Assembly Campaign Committee, detonated the first land mine of negative campaigning and tonight Republican Assembly Campaign Committee returns fire with the following press release.

NEWS FROM THE REPUBLICAN ASSEMBLY CAMPAIGN COMMITTEE

For Release: IMMEDIATELY, May 8, 2008

Contact: Joshua Fitzpatrick, (518) 542-2413

CANESTRARI LAUNCHES NEGATIVE ATTACK ON PATTY RITCHIE

Assemblyman Ron Canestrari (D-Cohoes), Chairman of the Democrat Assembly Campaign Committee (DACC) today launched a negative attack against Patty Ritchie (R-Ogdensburg), St. Lawrence County Clerk and potential Republican candidate for the vacated 118^th Assembly District.

Canestrari launched the broadside on the “Danger Democrat” blog earlier this afternoon. In the blog post, Canestrari cited a Watertown Daily Times story reporting on the possibility Ritchie may run for the 118^th Assembly District and accused Ritchie – who has not even formally declared her candidacy – of “lying” and being “dishonest and disingenuous.”

“It’s pretty obvious that Canestrari is only attacking Patty Ritchie because he and DACC are worried about her candidacy. He knows she has a proven record of accomplishment as St. Lawrence County Clerk and that she would make an excellent candidate for the 118^th Assembly District,” said Joshua Fitzpatrick, Spokesman for the Republican Assembly Campaign Committee (RACC).

“North Country voters should decide who will run, not Ron Canestrari. He should butt out of North Country business,” Fitzpatrick said.

“Patty Ritchie has a well-known – and well-earned – record of dedicated, honorable public service to North Country taxpayers. That Ron Canestrari would attack her in such a manner just proves what RACC already believed: Ritchie is the best candidate to listen to – and fight for – North Country families by bringing real change to Albany,” Fitzpatrick stated.

-30-

Bye Bye!

Bye Bye is what New Yorker's say each year to their children, neighbors, relatives, friends, and co-workers as New York State continues to lose its inhabitants. The primary reasons are jobs and the economy, which is affected and afflicted by the way New York State is governed.

Therefore, here is where the rubber meets the road for politicians. The continued hemorrhaging of residents from New York State, especially upstate New York, will cost the state representation at the federal level and cost the North Country representation at the state level.

This gets a little tricky here, but the convoluted system of reapportionment is left up to the politicians, which essentially means the Democrats and Republicans will decide and compromise to protect their own seats. This translates into the Assembly Democrats protecting their seats and if the Republicans remain in control of the Senate, they will protect their seats.

How does this effect the North Country?

There is little doubt this will spread the 23rd Congressional district seat out further than it is currently and if Democrats control both the state Assembly and Senate, John McHugh will be a target.

If the winner of the 118th Assembly district is a Democrat, the district is likely to remain fairly well intact, if the winner is a Republican expect that district to be altered enough to push the representative outside the district boundaries or make it more difficult to win re-election, just ask Bob Nortz. This concern should be factored into any Republican candidate's decision.

In the 122nd Assembly the same scenario is likely to occur as in the 118th Assembly district, any changes will favor the Democrats.

The 48th Senate district will change depending upon who has control of the Senate; Democrats will draw the district to favor Aubertine or Republicans will draw it to make it more difficult for him to win re-election.

There is the system, fair and balanced, and if you believe it is truly fair and balanced then there is a bridge for sale in Brooklyn you might like to buy.

The bottom line is Northern New York's representation will take a hit in redistricting and will continue to do so until the elected officials decide to make serious changes in the way government operates New York State.

Pork Data Base

LoHud.com has created a pork data base for ease of browsing.

Here are both for the Senate and Assembly.

Guest Voices From Carthage

Village of West Carthage

61 High Street

Carthage, New York 13619-1326

315-493-2552 * 315-493-2847 (fax)

Scott M. Burto, Mayor

May 7, 2008

STATEMENT ON TONIGHT’S MEETING

The school board has lowered the tax levy increase to 6.8%. We feel it is unfortunate that additional cuts were not made to lower the tax levy increase. The school has made it clear that this is the best they can do at this time. We encourage residents to take a close look at the budget proposal and to get out and vote on May 20^th. We also hope that everyone will take a close look at all the candidates for school board before they vote. We have asked that if the budget is turned down on May 20^th that the board goes back to work to make additional cuts and allow for a second vote to gain residents approval. Instead of taking the easy way out and implementing a contingency budget.

Respectfully,

Scott M. Burto, Mayor Village of West Carthage
G. Wayne McIlroy, President Village of Carthage
Terry L. Buckley, Supervisor Town of Champion
Mike Storms, Councilman Town of Wilna
Gary Eddy, Supervisor Town of Rutland
Lee Carpenter, Mayor Village of Black River

Bruno Takes A Swing

Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno had a showdown of sorts with a reporter from the Albany Times Union. The confrontation in this case was probably slightly deserved considering it is opening a wound of the troopergate scandal in which the Times Union played a role.

Start with the hypothesis that New York State government is fundamentally flawed simply by the nature of its leadership structures in both the Assembly and Senate. New Yorkers would be better served if rules in both of the chambers limited the time these positions are held by any single lawmaker, the recent distribution of member items are a symptom of that problem; it breeds loyalty, fosters strength and power in the positions. This is simply defending Bruno in this one particular case.

The Times Union was baited into the troopergate scandal in an attempt by Spitzer to get Bruno, while the Albany DA’s report actually claims they made inquires on Spitzer’s travel. It appears they never followed up on the original inquiry but instead took the bait from Spitzer’s people and tried to hang Bruno out to dry on this issue.

Bruno was speaking his peace to the Albany Times Union in this exchange and until they come clean on their sloppy reporting Bruno remarks while lacking in decorum were probably deserved.

It's Eight Belles For Clinton

A stinging defeat in North Carolina and win by a small margin in Indiana has Hillary Clinton face down on the ground again.

There are a couple of signs from Clinton that this maybe coming to a close sooner rather than later. The first signal is she is in Washington today to talk with superdelegates, ultimately her last best chance. The superdelegates may deliver the message that it is time to end the campaign.

The other signal comes in the words she speaks. "People are watching this race and they're wondering . . . I win, he wins, I win, he wins . . . it's so close. That says a lot about how passionate our supporters are . . . but I can assure you that no matter what happens I will work for the nominee of the Democratic party," she said.

Obama had a net gain in vote count last night that equaled what Clinton gained on his popular vote count lead in Pennsylvania. He turned the momentum on its head last night after two of the roughest weeks of his campaign. The Clinton campaign will become more desperate now and the talks will shift back to Michigan and Florida.

It is up to Clinton to manage her end game and meeting with superdelegates will begin that process.

Failing Grade

Amid a year of a historical increase in school aid, a majority of school districts in the 48^th Senate district experienced a decrease in school aid from the Governor’s proposed budget to the final enacted budget voted on favorably by Senator Aubertine.

There are 30 school districts in the 48^th Senate district and 17 of the school districts experienced a decrease that resulted in a loss of school aid to the area totaling $1,962,541.00. The residents of the district should expect Senator Aubertine to be able to influence fellow Democrat Governor David Paterson in order to prevent such a significant loss, especially given the $1.75 billion increase in school aid included in this year’s budget.

In addition, in the final budget the Legislature passed included an increase in school aid of $400 million from the Governor’s proposed budget, and the 48^th Senate still took a loss, the results are equivalent to a failing grade for representation in this area for our fair share.

On February 25^th candidate Darrel Aubertine issued a press release that stated, “Darrel Aubertine will fight to make sure we get our fair share,” said Cathy Calhoun, Aubertine’s campaign manager.

The following is a list of school districts, which Senator Aubertine fought hard for, and their decreased aid amount and increased levy percentage, the loss of state aid would have alleviated some of the property tax increases. Residents of these districts will pay income to support the increase in school aid and higher local property taxes to support their districts.

Edwards-Knox ($107,263) 3% Property Tax Levy Increase
Canton ($181,113) 5.8%
Watertown ($236.668) 3.22%
S Jefferson ($69,606) 2.9%
LaFargeville ($39,821) 2.4%
Alexandria ($755) 3.0%
Gen Brown ($48,672) 2.91%
Pulaski ($67,745) 4.54%
Sandy Creek ($117,240) 5.14%
Fulton ($98,263) 2.29%
Mexico ($251,522) 1.97%
Phoenix ($61,260) 5.71%
Hannibal ($5,682) 5.00%
Gouverneur ($294,159) 3.00%
Morristown ($86,134) 3.41%
Hermon DeKalb ($56,523) 3.22%
Hammond ($240,115) 3.41%