Outrages & Insights

Frequency of posts on this blog

My blog postings are going to be hit and miss for the next little while. I'm working on some time-sensitive stories and need to devote my time to completing them.

Cities in green and Brown

The differing approaches in Buffalo and Niagara Falls in reaction to spiraling energy costs and other ramifications of climate change can be boiled down to this:

When I called Paul Dyster to talk about what Niagara Falls is doing, the mayor invited me up for what turned out to be a detailed, and ultimately exhausting, two-hour interview in which I finally had to plead "no mas." The man knows his stuff, and talks not in sound bites, not in sentences, but in complete paragraphs. Several at a time.

Don't believe me? Here's a video of a speech Dyster gave this summer to Business Gets Green.

Mayor Byron Brown, on the other hand, doesn't want to talk about what he is doing -- and not doing -- in Buffalo. Not with me. And not with some prominent greens like Walter Simpson who have tried to get an audience with him.

As a result of its mayor's respective attitudes, Niagara Falls has landed a plant to produce silicon used to make solar panels, while Buffalo is, well, washing the halls of City Hall with less abrasive cleaning solutions.

In addition to my story in Sunday's Buffalo News, I've complied links to additional resources for those of you who want to know more.

Let's start with Sam Magavern's report done with some of his U.B. law students for the Partnership for the Public Good, entitled "Greening Buffalo: What Local Governments Can Do." Magavern presents an abbreviated version of the recommendations in this story he wrote for Artvoice.

To learn with other cities are doing, start with the one-page action plan developed by the the Climate protection Center of the U.S. Conference of Mayors.

Magavern says Cincinnati's action plan is particularly relevant to a city like Buffalo.

Popsci.com has ranked the nation's 50 greenest cities, although probably fewer than 20 really deserve kudos. Another outfit has done a readable narrative on the greenest of the green cities.

Newsweek has reported on a study by the Brookings Institute on how metropolitan regions can reduce their carbon footprint.

Finally, Gristmill is in the midst of reporting on what 15 regions across the nation are doing on the green front.

Read on.

The veep debate

What I took away from the Biden-Palin debate last night: Gwen Ifill was a really lame moderator.

She never asked THE question regarding Palin's experience and suitability to serve in the White House. And she failed to press the candidates to answer questions, or even challenge them when they flat out lied.

Pathetic.

I guess Ifill was more concerned with not being called a meanie by the McCain-Palin camp than doing her job.

Suggestion to the Commission on Presidential Debates: Make sure the balance of your moderators have some - hmmmm, what word will my boss let me get away with? - backbone.

For those of you who missed the debate, let me boil it down for you.

Question: Pedestrian blah-blah-blah.

Biden: Detail, facts, criticism of his good friend John McCain, praise of the infallible Barack Obama, detail, rhetoric, facts.

Palin: Maverick!

Question: Non-descript blah-blah-blah.

Biden: Detail, facts, criticism of his good friend John McCain, praise of the infallible Barack Obama, detail, rhetoric, facts.

Palin: Hockey Mom!

Question: Obvious blah-blah-blah.

Biden: Detail, facts, criticism of his good friend John McCain, praise of the infallible Barack Obama, detail, rhetoric, facts.

Palin: Greed and corruption!

Question: Yawn-inducing blah-blah-blah.

Biden: Detail, facts, criticism of his good friend John McCain, praise of the infallible Barack Obama, detail, rhetoric, facts.

Palin: You kids earn extra credit!

Question: Blah-blah-blah to avoid asking the real question.

Biden: Detail, facts, criticism of his good friend John McCain, praise of the infallible Barack Obama, detail, rhetoric, facts.

Palin: Joe Six Pack!

Question: More blah-blah-blah to avoid asking the real question.

Biden: Detail, facts, criticism of his good friend John McCain, praise of the infallible Barack Obama, detail, rhetoric, facts.

Palin: Maverick!

You get the picture.

Meanwhile, the Washington Post has fact checked the assorted claims made during the debate. It's worth checking out.

I guess all that's left is the inevitable skit on Saturday Night Live. Come to think of it, Seth Meyers would have done a better job of moderating than Ifill, who I think has a future writing children's books.

Paterson, Bloomberg and Wall Street

Random thoughts, while keeping an eye on the Dow:

David Paterson, reformer? After last week, I don't know.

First, the governor foists Richard Kessel on the state Power Authority's governing board. NYPA's new boss is known more for his political maneuvering than expertise as a utility executive.

Then the guv vetoes legislation strongly supported by housing reformers that would have established countywide land banks and expand tax credits for rehabilitation of historic commercial and residential projects.

None of this bodes well for Western New York.

What is it about New York City mayors?

First, Rudolph Giuliani wanted to undo term limits to allow him to, if not run for a third term after 9-11, at least get a short-term extension to deal with the aftermath of the terrorist attacks.

Now Mike Bloomberg wants to run for a third term and is pushing the City Council to temporarily set aside the terms limits set by voters in a referendum. He says now is no time to change mayors, what with the fiscal crisis and all.

My, my, aren't we self-important.

To quote Charles de Gaulle: "The cemeteries of the world are full of indispensable men."

Speaking of the fiscal crisis, I've read a lot and still don't know what ought to be done. Dense, complicated stuff. Can't say I blame Congress for not enacting anything yet.

I do know this much, however -- I'm sick of reading how we need to commit billions upon billions to restore "confidence" to the markets.

A show of hands -- how many of you need government money to be confident enough to do your job? The brokers and bankers need to suck it up and get about their business. I think they could all use a talk from Arnold Schwarzenegger.

A second conclusion I've drawn: The press has once again fallen down on the job. This is the run-up to the invasion of Iraq all over again -- echo conventional wisdom and ignore opposing points of view.

Sen. Bernie Sanders, the Vermont independent who was at the center of negotiations over the bailout, wound up voting against the bill approved Wednesday. Here's his reasoning -- the flip side of the story largely underplayed by the press.

I've come across this site, which seems to be a good clearinghouse of news and information on the crisis.

Globe Metals project taking shape

I went on a quickie tour today (Tuesday) of the Globe Metals plant in Niagara Falls, which is being retooled to produce high-grade silicon for use in making solar panels.

The plant was closed five years ago and was a mess when crews began work in July. It's still kind of a mess, but they're on target to begin partial operations by the end of the year. The main building is huge inside, as the video above attests to. They've put on a roof and are replacing the sides. There is a ton of work left to do.

About 100 construction workers are on site, rehabbing part of the plant, and construction on a 150,000-square-foot annex is set to begin by the end of the year. Globe expects to spend some $60 million by the time the plant is running at full capacity in 2012.

Globe will start with about 100 workers and work its way up to about 500. The state Power Authority is providing 40 megawatts of low-cost hydropower, a big investment on the state's part, as the allocation will save Globe an estimated $13.8 million a year.

As part of the deal, Globe will set aside 25 percent of its production for use by manufacturers in New York State. Local economic development officials have launched an initiative to lure solar panels manufacturers here.

But, really, the point of this post is the video, shot and edited by my colleague Joe Popiolkowski. It's only 49 seconds, so take a look.

I'll have more in an upcoming story that looks at what Buffalo and Niagara Falls are doing in response to global warming.

A pittance for public transit

Donn Esmonde provided insight in his column yesterday on a proposal the NFTA is considering to raise transit fares.

I'm here to provide a little outrage on the bigger picture.

Global warming is staring us in the face. Gas is $4 a gallon, or there abouts. Transit ridership is up and more people are riding buses and subways than they have for the past 50 years.

Bus and subway operators across the nation are struggling to keep up. High fuel prices hit them, too. Equipment is aging. There's more riders than seats on some popular routes.

Where is Uncle Sam in all this? You know, the guy supposedly trying to kick his addiction to foreign oil?

Well, he's partying like its 1986. That's the year Metro Rail opened and global warming was a vague concept.

Fact is, the federal government has beat a steady retreat from funding mass transit since at least Ronald Reagan's time. The feds used to help public transit systems pay for both operations and capital improvements. That ended in 1991. Now public operators get something akin to a block grant, to spend as they see fit.

The outcome is a rob Peter to pay Paul scenario.

Or, in this case, Ralph Kramden.

The federal government this budget year has earmarked $4.6 billion in formula aid to assist systems in urban and high-grow states starting to choke on their congestion.

Federal spending in 1986, adjusted for inflation, comes to $5.4 billion.

In other words: ridership up, global warming up, federal aid down.

To put it in perspective, the federal government's spending on mass transit in cities and high growth areas equals the bill for 13 days of fighting in Iraq.

How does this play out in Buffalo-Niagara?

The NFTA will get about $11 million in federal aid this year. The state kicks in about $47 million, although that's about $1.3 million less than it was counting on, thanks to the budget crunch in Albany. Local revenues, mostly a piece of the county sales tax and mortgage recording tax, comes to about $37 million. Passenger fares come to about $28 million.

In other words, fares cover about a quarter of the overhead. Which means more ridership means more deficits. It's like a loss leader, but the NFTA has no way of making it up, at least so long as aid isn't tied to ridership, which it isn't.

NFTA Executive Director Larry Meckler doesn't have a beef with the state, which, in recent years, has increased aid faster than the rate of inflation. So have the feds, for that matter, but its a pittance compared to what it used to be and bolstered by earmarks wrangled by our Congressional delegation.

"It's getting tougher and tougher to get dollars," Meckler said. "We shouldn't have to beg for money for mass transportation.

"If you can get people on buses and trains, I think it solves a lot of problems."

Election sites: Smart, funny & otherwise

This is the presidential campaign where online media has come of age. There's a lot out there. Here's one humble(?) reporter's attempt to help readers wade through it all.

I'm going to start with comic relief. We need it. More with each passing day.

First up, Indecision 2008, which features the handiwork of Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert and Co. While it's good for yucks, the sad reality is that there's a lot more truth telling among the laughs than often can be found in the blah-blah-blah coverage of the "legitimate" network and cable news programs.

Saturday Night Live is worth keeping an eye on, given its opening skits the past two weeks.

I recently came across this political humor site, which had me in stitches. Among other things, it tallies the wisecracks made by Leno, Letterman and the other late night talk show hosts.

Here's my favorite, from Jimmy Kimmel:

"How are you going to be the vice president of the United States with five kids to take care of? She's got a four-month-old of her own, she's about to become a grandmother and she's partnered with John McCain. How many diapers can one woman possibly change?"

But seriously folks, I should move on to the mainstream news coverage. Yahoo! News offers a cross-section and is not a bad place to start. The major national dailies, starting with the New York Times and Washington Post are good, as is the new kid on the block, the all-Web Politico.

Alternatives? The Guardian offers a European perspective via a Web site that is considered by many the best in the news business. Left-of-center perspectives on this side of the ocean can be found at Alternet and Huffington Post. Gristmill has top-notch news and analysis of the campaign as it relates to environmental issues.

I suppose I should list the official sites of Barack Obama and John McCain, if for no other reason than it provides an opening to mention a couple of third-party candidates, Ralph Nader on the left, Bob Barr on the right, and Ron Paul, who was all over the place when he ran during the primary. You may not be voting for any of the minor party candidates, but their sites are worth visiting because they raise important issues that the Dems and GOP aren't addressing head on.

There are a few useful odds 'n ends. Factcheck is a non-partisan truth squad analyzing the barrage of charges and counter-charges. If you want to check on the latest polls go here. And if you're still trying to make up your mind, this interactive questionnaire from USA Today tells you how the candidates stand on the issues of importance to you.

Among state and local blogs, I like what the Buffalo Pundit is doing, and the political blog of the Albany Times Union provides both statewide election coverage and a daily digest of political and government news from around New York. And, of course, there's Politics Now from my colleagues at The Buffalo News, which offers a good blend of local, state and national coverage.

Interested in how politicians are raising and spending money? Go here for state elections and here for federal. Good stuff.

Any sites you'd add to the list?

Golisano's shell game continues

When I pressed Steve Pigeon a few weeks ago about any possible link between Mothers and Fathers  Demanding Answers, the anonymous group that attacked Sam Hoyt during the recent primary, and Responsible New York, he assured me everything was being done above board.

"I think it will all come out in the reports," he said in a previous post regarding financial disclosure forms to be filed with the state Board of Elections.

Well, guess what? The deadline has come and gone and Mothers and Fathers hasn't filed a disclosure report.

One was due earlier this week for fund-raising and spending activity for the 11 days prior and 10 days after the Sept. 9 primary, assuming there was at least $1,000 in activity. We know from the barrage of TV ads and direct mail flyers there was a lot more than $1,000 going on.

All Mothers and Fathers has filed is a form registering as a political action committee established for the purpose of opposing Hoyt in the primary. It lists the same mailing address as the one used on the organization's attack flyers -- that of a direct mail business in Long Island City.

The treasurer is listed as Abigail Rivera of 15th Street in Buffalo. I reached Rivera by phone Wednesday afternoon.  She confirmed that yes, she's the Rivera who lives on 15th Street. I told her I had a document that listed her as treasurer of Mothers and Fathers and asked her to confirm whether that was correct. She seemed taken aback.

"I don't remember. I'm not sure," she said before asking me to call her back in a few minutes.

I did, several times, and she did not pick up the phone.

I checked some records, made some calls, and found out she's a former county worker who was active in the Democratic Party when Pigeon was chairman.

So I called Pigeon. He offered the Sergeant Schultz defense -- he knows nothing.

Steve, what do you know about Abigail Rivera?

"I was not involved."

What can you tell me about the failure of Mothers and Fathers to file a disclosure report?

"I can't speak to it."

He concluded by once again assuring me that everything Responsible New York does is legal.

"We are complying with the election law."

Then, click, he hung up.

Nice talking to you, Steve.

Eventually I spoke to Henry Berger, the attorney for Responsible New York. Said he didn't know Rivera, didn't know much at all about Mothers and Fathers.

Then he volunteered this: "I know we made a contribution to them, did some things with them."

But Mr. Berger, Responsible New York's disclosure report doesn't list any contributions to Mothers and Fathers.

"My understanding is the way we handled it is they did the stuff and we paid for it."

Interesting.

Or, sticking with the German soldier theme, "Very Interesting."

A review of Responsible New York's disclosure reports shows that, sure enough, it appears to be following the law. (Then again, I'm not a DA).

Of course, if it were an "authorized" political committee, Responsible New York would not only have to disclose its spending, but detail how it was allocated on behalf each individual candidate. Responsible New York, however, is an "unauthorized" political committee, meaning it does not have to disclose spending by candidate.

Nice, huh? This from the organization that lists among its eight mission points "True Government Transparency." Not to mention "Election and Campaign Finance Reform."

While perusing a number of disclosure reports I found some interesting stuff.

Responsible New York has spent $1.3 million of the $5 million Tom Golisano has plowed into the organization. In the 11 days leading up to the primary and the 10 days following, it spent $734,3584. That included $430,450 in TV spots, $148,000 in radio and $121,000 in direct mail. Most of that money was presumably spent in support of Barbra Kavanaugh and Baby Joe Mesi. Not that the report tells us.

Thanks to Golisano's largess, Kavanaugh raised and spent relatively little on her campaign, $33,321 and $29,525, respectively.

Hoyt, meanwhile, has raised $352,709 since the first of the year and spent $374,911, including more than $225,000 in the 10 days leading up to the primary. If the strategy of Golisano-Pigeon-Brown-Casey was to bleed Hoyt financially, it certainly worked.

All this said, I'm tired of writing about the Hoyt-Kavanaugh race. It was ugly and costly -- and it's over.

The reason why I've delved into it one more time is to document the less-than-transparent manner in which Golisano has Pigeon spending his money. 

Golisano has been preaching transparency in state government; applying that same principle to Responsible New York's activities would see it spell out precisely how much money it is spending on individual candidates.

I guess that kind of transparency is good for the goose, but not the Golisano.

Kessel to lead Power Authority

I don't know Richard Kessel from Adam. Or Eve, for that matter.

All I know is what I read in the newspapers, in this case, those downstate that have been covering him for years. And the coverage has not been positive.

To read Newsday, Kessel has been less than a stickler when it comes to finances and ethics. Over the summer, it described his tenure at the head of the Long Island Power Authority as "replete with ups and downs, including ... sharp criticism of the authority's spending and disclosure policies." Read this from yesterday's edition.

And to read the New York Post, the guy is a complete political hack. Read this and this.

Kessel is pretty good with the quips, however.

Here's the coverage of of appointment, my story in today's Buffalo News and pieces from The New York Times and Newsday.

Although Kessel has a Republican pedigree, as a disciple of Alfonse D'Amato, George Maziarz, head of the State Senate's Energy Committe, couldn't hide his disappointment with the appointment. Assemblyman Sam Hoyt wasn't exactly gushing either.

Perhaps most telling, the NYPA board was divided on the hire, and it's usually a rubber stamp on such things.  Elise Cusack and and James Besha both voted no.

Interestingly enough, Congressman Brian Higgins passed on commenting on Kessel, saying he didn't know much about him. Rather, Higgins said it's important to focus attention on Paterson.

"We have to redouble our efforts to get the political leadership in Albany to recognize its obligation to the Buffalo Niagara region as it relates to the Niagara Power Project."

Richard Brodsky, the Westchester County Democrat who is no friend to state authorities as the chairman of the Assembly committee that oversees them, offered this take.

"It's a an interesting appointment. Richie is smart, and he knows the issues. He's made more than his share of mistakes, but he's not afraid to shake things up and this is an institution that needs to be shaken up.

"It's an unconventional pick with downsides, but it has an upside."

"I've said this to Richie directly -- if I was to characterize where he didn't do as well as he
should have, it's where he became a spokesman for the governor. That did not serve him well and it did not serve (the Long Island Power Authority) well. When he was his own person, he helped LIPA improve.

"He's got to be the chief executive of NYPA, not the governor's assistant to NYPA."

Worse-case scenario, Kessel futher politicizes an already politicized organization and doesn't concern himself with upstate. Those concerns are being expressed in private by a number of folks.

Best case, he shows he dispells fears he won't look beyond downstate by leading the charge on reforms on how power and profits generated at the Niagara Power Project are used to benefit WNY. Right now, things aren't breaking our way. In more ways than one.

Newday reported this today on Kessel's intentions.

In an interview, he said his priorities include expanding the transmission system, cooperating with an attorney general probes of NYPA, and bolstering renewable energy. He said he will emphasize the upstate region, where "NYPA has to go the extra mile to help the people and the economy."

A modest IDA reform

Clawback is a dirty word in much of the economic development community.

It involves retrieving a subsidy granted to a business when it fails to deliver as promised. Typically, clawbacks are used when companies fail to create jobs as promised.

No local economic development agencies use clawbacks, but the Amherst IDA wants its brethren to embrace a limited use. Its board voted unanimously last week to recommend that IDAs throughout Erie County establish a uniform clawback policy when companies use fraud to obtain benefits.

Reported my colleague David Robinson:

The measure, proposed by board member Ayesha F. Nariman, is a scaled-back version of a claw-back proposal that the Amherst IDA rejected in April. That defeated proposal also would have imposed the claw-back on companies that failed to meet their job creation targets.

The Nariman proposal excludes companies that don’t meet their job creation promises due to economic circumstances. The only trigger for the claw-back provision in her proposal is if the tax breaks were sought in “an intent to defraud.”

The county's six IDAs agreed in 2001 to adopt uniform policies, so this proposal would have to gain the approval of the the IDA Leadership Council, which includes the agencies, the county executive and some other economic development types. The council meets again the middle of October.

"Any policy change would be all or none," explains Jim Allen, head of the Amherst IDA. "That way, no one is putting themselves at a competitive advantage or disadvantage.

"My sense it is will be passed. It's something whose time has come. The public is clamoring for a clawback in the event someone isn't playing by the rules."

This seems like an easy lift for the IDAs, as it's limited to fraud. Who can be against punishing a company under those circumstances?

Of course, the provision would have very limited application and would do little to satisfy those pushing for more comprehensive IDA reform.

Local IDAs don't want clawbacks extended to include a company's failure to meet job projections "because the numbers fluctuate," Allen said.

That's true, but the resistance goes beyond that, from what I've seen and heard from a wide range of local economic development officials.

They're concerned clawbacks would make it that much tougher to put deals together. OK, I can appreciate that.

But expanded clawbacks, enacted in numerous states, would also introduce a level of accountability that many economic development types would just as soon not interject into the process. If you had clawbacks, you'd have to go after under-performing companies and that would bring attention to the fact the public wasn't get a full return on its investment.

That's not a shot at Alllen, who, despite his Darth Vader reputation among some in the city, strikes me as a progressive guy when it comes to the larger economic development issues confronting this community. He doesn't dispute the notion that the region needs to rethink its approach. In fact, he's put more thought into how to fix things than anyone I've come across. Read this and you'll know what I mean.

Anyways, subsidies are failing to deliver as promised not just here, but around the country. Check out this new new report in Clawback, a blog published by the folks at Good Jobs First.