Obviously things can change but I wouldn’t be surprised if Chris Collins won County Executive afterall. Although Giambra seemingly ruined any potential for the Republican Party in the area, I think people around here are willing to put the party allegiances to the side to vote for a reformer who “creates jobs” in the private sector. I think labeling Keane as a “career politician” (which by the way isn’t a bad thing but has become the insult du jour recently) is a move that will help Collins win even more since there is no confidence/trust whatsoever in local politicians.

I don’t know a lot about him but I think people are excited at the opportunity for something different to be running the show. Especially someone who is big on money management.

If he wins I’m sure people will be upset about his unwillingness to fund a lot of things that people want. Forget the bed tax, and don’t get your hopes up for much funding for the arts/cultural institutions.

Managing a government like a private business could make for some interesting times.

Oh and by the way…if you do a google image search for “chris collins + buffalo” you’ll get some totally x-treme pictures of Phill Collins’ 1978 concert in Buffalo…in case you were wondering.

I’ve developed a thing for Dale Volker ever since I saw his infamous temper tantrum after the Tolls came down.

Thankfully there are some more gems to add to the archives. He AND his aide were fuming with Channel 2 for him never responding to the pay raise issue.

I want him to stay in office forever purely for entertainment purposes.

When I saw the video footage of Carl Paladino and Joel Giambra uncorking a bottle of champagne nearby the tolls this morning I was reminded that I am indeed living in Buffalo, New York.

this place is priceless.

Great article on Jack Davis in the NYTimes today. He always seemed like a bit of a character to me with his bizarre ads (even for Buffalo standards) and his very non-political everyday demeanor. Guess I wasn’t wrong.
I know Reynolds is taking a lot of heat from a lot of people (wnymedia especially) but you gotta look at both sides, and after finding out more about Davis you might want to think twice. It’s shaping up to be a “who’s not the worst candidate” type of race. Super.

Good thing these guys aren’t in my district.

Is it wrong that I really don’t care that Jack Davis is a millionaire and that I think Tom Reynolds just increased his douchebaggery level with that stupid commerical?

Anyone who is frustrated with Mayor Brown’s stance on Fulton Street and sympathizes with Barry Snyder because the Casino won’t look as nice because they don’t have that street…let me say this.

The Seneca Nation never had Fulton Street. It was a cheap, douchebag move to refuse to sign a document saying they wouldn’t purchase more land because “it is an insult to the culture and heritage of the seneca nation to make us sign an agreement…take our word that we wont ask for more land.” It was also a cheap, douchebag move to make blueprints and release them to the public in a grandiose way using property that you don’t even fucking have…making Buffalonians go “oh man, we better give them Fulton or else it won’t look as nice.”
I’m not even anti-casino. You already have an unfair business advantage…but then manipulating the government you’re taking the land from and manipulating the public your about to milk dry with your slot machines….that’s pretty lame.

God I hate douchebags. Especailly tax-free ones.

“ronmoss4mayor.org”

Okay if this were ANY other city in America I’d be sure this guy was just kidding…but I think he might be for real. Is he? Seriously, I need to know cuz if he is i’m on the next bus out of town.

For a change of pace I went to the Central Library today and came accross this book written right after Buffalo missed out on their chance for major league baseball expansion in 1990. It was a good book about how Pilot Field changed Downtown Buffalo and boosted the City. What I found that was INSANE was these quotes from Cuomo from around 92…
I paraphrase..
“Buffalo is going to see a lot of good change. This new NAFTA deal is gonna bring a lot of trade to Buffalo and a lot more people are going to be coming across this city.”

and the craziest one..
“Buffalo has the strongest economy in the state, the lowest unemployment in the state. Buffalo is changing for the better all the time and is only getting better.”

Ummmmmmmmmm…what. happened?

I’ve spent time in cities all over America and without a doubt Buffalo takes the cake when it comes to its refusal to evolve. In a lot of ways I admire that. Buffalonians appreciate their history and traditions. Sadly this transfers over to some not-so-good things such as the absolute stranglehold the unions hold over its alleged superiors. If Buffalo was a somewhat-thriving city I could see the unions trying to milk out some more benifits and bucks but this is ridiculous.
Union workers in the public sector in this city don’t realize how good they have it. The infinite supply of benifits and pensions is off the charts when you look at the economy of the city, county and state (excluding NYC). So for three years now the control board has froze their wages and until now they have done a good job of making the sacrifice. Thats over now. Private sector employees make less on average than these guys who are threatening and whining about their situation.
Until Buffalo hits absolute rock bottom (a scary thought since I thought we did a few times already) the unions here will never change and always push for more goodies. Its the same reason why so many manufacturing jobs left this city. They refused to believe the businesses that said they were hemorraging money so we all payed the price.
Not to say unions are the only ones to blame. This current wage freeze problem has a lot to do with Albany. New York state gives ridiculous rewards to state employees even long after they are gone.
Someone, sometime, somewhere has to realize Buffalo is dying faster than ever. With every step forward we take two back. And all our progress is from people who will invest in this city DESPITE all the concequences that come with it (NewEra). Albany has to see the light and make the changes, the unions have to realize the control board is not a bunch of wealthy snots who look down upon them. We are in a time of crisis-which means we all need to cooperate or else we’ll never change. Then again, that would be very Buffalo-like of us.

Today was the official introduction of the Medical Campus to everyone. Since the public sector had a very important part in the funding of this project-Schumer, Hillary, and Pataki were there to claim credit and what have you. But beyond that, this project symbolizes the future for Buffalo. As the city tries to finally overcome its decision generations ago to become dependent on manufacturing jobs, they take the risk in trying to become the go-to place for bio-informatics in America. The problem is that a lot of other cities have this-we have to make sure we do this right, that we make sure its the best damned bio-informatics center in the US. This itself will provide some jobs to slow the bleeding but what we’re all banking on is the private sector. We can only hope that the private sector will come in and add thousands of jobs. Already this part of downtown has turned itself from an eyesore into an emerging and appealing part of the city with Allentown, the Church of Scientology, and Granite Works cleaning up this blighted part of the city. From here, it should only get better. Then again…this is Buffalo.