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Department Of Obvious Observations
Dec 21st - 9:01 am
This one is too good to pass up.
Former Rep. Eric Massa, who was forced to resign his NY-29 seat in the wake of a sexual harassment scandal, has earned yet another dubious distinction – this time from an outfit called eBossWatch, which goes by the following credo: “Nobody should have to work with a jerk.”
Amen.
The ex-Democratic congressman, who cost his party a key upstate House seat (now in the hands of Republican Rep. Tom Reed), made No. 4 on BossWatch’s annual list of America’s worst bosses. (H/T Elmira Star Gazette).
Massa isn’t the only New Yorker on the list, which also includes doctors, a police chief, a university dean, a judge and actor Steven Seagal. The No. 1 spot went to Eddie Burns, chief of Dallas Fire and Rescue, who had three sexual harassment lawsuits filed against him by four former and current female employees.
It was that notoriety, along with the nature of the charges, which propelled Massa to near the top of the list, eBossWatch founder Asher Adelman, told the Gazette’s Jeff Murray.
“The fact that he was a Congressman put him at a level higher than a lot of other bosses on the list. He was held to a higher standard,” Adelman said. “The fact that he is representing his home region in Congress and for him to behave in that manner – I think that’s what our panel of judges saw about his behavior.
“I think it’s the fact that he groped and there was some physical involvement with some of his staffers,” he said. “I think that ranked pretty high, rather than having the abuse be verbal.”
Hoyt’s YouTube Holiday Greeting
Dec 17th - 1:38 pm
Assemblyman Sam Hoyt has dispensed with the traditional holiday greeting card and even shunned the less-personal e-card in favor of an all-purpose season’s greetings YouTube video.
The video is part constituent service, including a plea for Buffalonians to “shop local,” part “thank-you” message (Hoyt weathered another tough primary this year, defeating his challenger, Joseph Golombek Jr., by just a few hundred votes), and part look ahead to 2011 (it should be a good year for him, since he’s a veteran supporter of Governor-elect Andrew Cuomo and one of the few elected officials to back Cuomo for governor in 2002).
I’m sure Hoyt’s not the first to go the YouTube route this holiday season, but this is the first video I’ve seen so far this month.
Merry Majority Christmas
Dec 16th - 2:44 pm
A WNY reader forwarded this invitation to the Erie County GOP’s upcoming holiday reception/fundraiser at which Chairman Nick Langworthy will be honoring the three local “Republican state Senate Majority members”: Senators-elect Patrick Gallivan and Mark Grisanti and returning Sen. Mike Razenhoefer.
This is noteworthy for several reasons, not the least of which is that the 7th SD race still remains in limbo, thanks to Sen. Craig Johnson’s plan to appeal the appellate court ruling that handed his seat to Republican Jack Martins, and so the GOP is not, technically speaking, in the majority yet. Although most agree it’s all but a done deal at this point.
Also, Gallivan was not the Erie County GOP’s candidate. Langworthy backed his predecessor, former Chairman Jim Domagalski, who lost to Gallivan in the September primary for the seat of retiring Sen. Dale Volker.
Langworthy was a big Carl Paladino supporter, and the gubernatorial candidate also backed Domagalski, abandoning his friend and Tea Party candidate, David DiPietro, to do so.
This was seen as a move by Paladino to curry favor with Erie County Executive Chris Collins, one of the few elected officials who supported the controversial Buffalo businessman’s quixotic run. But in the end, it didn’t stop Gallivan from succeeding at the ballot box.
So, now it looks like the WNY GOP delegation is one big happy family. Interesting. Of course, there’s saftey in numbers, and the WNYers are going to need one another when it comes to defending their region against the competing interests of the nine-member Long Island delegation.
A Vote For Valesky
Dec 5th - 3:08 pm
The Auburn Citizen, who often adopts a contrarian view of Albany (but, then again, who doesn’t these days?), editorialized today in favor of making Sen. Dave Valesky head of the Democratic conference, arguing it’s time to give someone from upstate a chance to lead for a change.
“Much of the abysmal performance of the Senate the past two years can be traced to the failed leadership of downstate Democratic Senate leaders, such as John Sampson and Malcolm Smith,” the paper opined.
“Unfortunately, Valesky was too often quiet while they did their damage. Fortunately, it appears that Valesky might have received a message in his tight victory margin in November.”
The Citizen went on to praise Valesky for being the only member of the conference to abstain from voting to retain Senate Democratic Conference Leader John Sampson for another two years, regardless of whether the Democrats end up in the minority – an all-but certain fate, at this point.
Valesky has not, to my knowledge, ever expressed an interest in being leader, and given the downstate dominance and racial politics at play in the conference, it seems highly unlikely he ever would be.
But there’s a lot of unrest among the Democrats, even though Sampson received the vote of confidence his allies sought last week. It would not be at all surprising to see some kind of coup attempt mounted down the road, although how the numbers might break down to successful oust him is something I can’t figure out right now.
Valesky: Leadership Vote ‘Disrespectful,’ ‘Business As Usual’
Dec 2nd - 2:54 pm
Sen. Dave Valesky sat down for an extended interview with intrepid YNN reporter Bill Carey to explain in greater detail why he had decided to abstain during the Democratic conference vote held Monday night at which his colleagues voiced support for keeping Sen. John Sampson at the helm for another two years.
Valesky said he was motivated to keep his powder dry by his constituents, who are sick and tired – “as I am” – of the “status quo” at the Capitol, addind: “The fact that it raises eyebrows is an unfortunate commentary, I think commentary on the state of politics in Albany.”
Valesky said there had been “no prior notice” of the vote, which upset him. He was equally disturbed by the fact that a number of the incoming freshmen were not present to voice their opinion on who should lead them going forward.
Sen. Valesky To Explain His (Non)Vote
Dec 2nd - 8:37 am
Sen. Dave Valesky issued the following statement to his hometown paper, the Syracuse Post-Standard, about why he was the lone member of the Democratic conference to abstain from voting to keep Sen. John Sampson on as leader for the next two years:
“This kind of vote requires deliberation and consideration.”
“It didn’t need to happen Monday night, there was absolutely no notice it would be taking place, and several of the new senators-elect were not present to have their voices heard, so I abstained.”
Valesky, as the Post-Standard points out, is the highest-ranking upstate senator. He lived through a tough challenge this fall from Republican Andrew Russo, who made much during the race of the upstate/downstate divide.
As far as I can tell, three of the incoming senators weren’t present for the vote:
- Tony Avella, of Queens, apparently was informed there would be a vote, but was otherwise engaged and couldn’t make it to the Capitol for the lame duck session. Avella told me during a CapTon interview last week that he is a Sampson supporter.
- The Hudson Valley’s David Carlucci was in Albany, but left early to attend to business in his district. He told me he wasn’t informed about the impending vote. Carlucci has made it quite clear that he has not yet decided whether to support keeping Sampson as leader.
- Tim Kennedy, of Buffalo, was also in Albany. He arrived late to the closed-door conference meeting, I’m told, and wasn’t allowed in because the man he defeated in the September primary, Sen. Bill Stachowski, was already inside. (It still remains a mystery to me why outgoing senators were allowed to cast a vote on who will be leader for a session they won’t be attending).
Kennedy met later with Sampson for over an hour and pledged his support to the Brooklyn Democrat, according to one Senate source.
UPDATE: Another Senate source informs me that while the outgoing lawmakers were allowed in the room for this debate, they did not cast votes. Nor, apparently, did the two Senate Democrats who remain in limbo because their races have yet to be officially called: Craig Johnson (7th SD) and Suzi Oppenheimer (37th SD).
Counting Stops For Holiday In 60th SD
Nov 24th - 12:06 pm
I caught up this morning with former Senate Minority Leader Marty Connor, who is one of the election attorneys handling the ballot-counting effort in the 60th SD.
He was at the Buffalo airport heading home to Brooklyn, but insisted his departure should not be seen as an indication that the Democrats are ready to call it quits in the district, where incumbent Sen. Antoine Thompson is trailing his opponent, Democrat-turned-Republican Mark Grisanti by 525 votes with all the affidavit and absentee ballots counted. (Updated).
Connor said the numbers are going to be reviewed over the weekend and the two sides will reconvene next week to determine where they stand. “No decisions have been made,” he told me, noting that Thompon is also heading to Brooklyn (he’s driving) where he will be spending Thanksgiving with family.
It’s still possible the Democrats will request a judge grant permission for a full hand recount, which Connor insisted would not take as long as many people believe (he estimated a pace of 1 ED per hour).
Another sign that Thompson isn’t quite ready to throw in the towel just yet: He sent a “request for a critical contribution” to supporters on Monday, which read:
“Hello, I am reaching out to you in hopes of your support. There is an aggressive recount underway for my re-election to the State Senate. Recounts require the mobilization of staff, volunteers, and lawyers to ensure that every vote is counted.”
“This is very close race with more thousands of absentee and affadavit ballots must be counted. Your contribution will make a huge difference. Please contribute today online at www.senatorantoinethompson.com or Supporters of Antoine Thompson, P.O. Box 714, Buffalo, NY 14201.”
The Republicans are insisting it’s mathematically impossible for Thompson to win, and are making similar claims in the 7th SD race where Sen. Craig Johnson is lagging behind his opponent, Jack Martins, by 321 votes, 395 absentee ballots left to be counted.
Also on Long Island, the battle over the 1st CD between Rep. Tim Bishop, who was up by 235 votes over Randy Altschuler yesterday, is continuing through the Thanksgiving weekend.
Tom Reed Sworn Into Office
Nov 18th - 2:32 pm
After a brief health scare earlier this week, Rep. Tom Reed (NY-29) has been officially sworn into office.
Reed, who easily defeated his Democratic opponent, Matt Zeller, for the seat vacated by disgraced ex-Rep. Eric Massa, was supposed to take the oath of office Tuesday. His swearing-in was postponed after he was admitted to the hospital Sunday night and treated for blood clotting in his lungs.
*One other Note: In the video, the entire New York Congressional delegation – Democrats and Republicans alike – joined Reed as he took the oath, including Rep. Charlie Rangel, who hightailed it over to the chamber after being recommended for censure.
Lee: Washington Is ‘Like Fantasy Island’
Nov 17th - 2:14 pm
Rep. Chris Lee, who is now the second highest-ranking member of the NY congressional delegation, thanks to the GOP takeover of the House, declined to tell me during a CapTon interview earlier today whether Rep. Charlie Rangel should resign following his conviction on 11 ethics charges.
The Western NY lawmaker, who was just re-elected to his second two-year term, seemed to be leaning toward the idea that it might be time for the Harlem Democrat to call it quits, saying that while the decision about whether to stay or go is an intensely personal one: “He’s served 40 years in Congress, eventually you have to get to a point where you say: Enough is enough.”
When I pressed him, the congressman responded:
“I can only speak for myself,” Lee said. “I think Washington, this place, is like Fantasy Island. If you’re here too long, you really have a hard time making the right decisions.”
“I think people coming here after spending considerable time in the private sector and then spending a few years in Washington to really invoke real change is what we need. But when you’re here 30, 40 years I think it is very difficult to continue to do what your constituents need.”
Cuomo: Duffy Can Do More For Rochester From Albany
Nov 17th - 8:55 am
Governor-elect Andrew Cuomo got a bit grilled by a local reporter yesterday during a stop in the Rochester area, and revealed while touting the many attributes of his LG-elect, Bob Duffy, that he’s not familiar with the mayor’s signature economic development project.
Cuomo called Duffy “an extraordinary man” who has been an “extraordinary mayor,” but also said he believes his hand-picked No. 2 will be able to do more for his hometown working in Albany “because a lot of the problems that Rochester is facing…these are statewide problems, and you’re really going to need to tackle them in Albany on a statewide basis.”
Duffy’s wife, Barb, revealed during a recent interview that she and her husband will not likely be relocating full time to the Capital Region.
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