We've got a new weekly feature on the Politics Now blog -- every Sunday, we're publishing a small question-and-answer with someone from the local political world. Instead of touching on the latest in policy issues and proposed legislation, the intent is to catch a glimpse of the person behind the title. The interviews are done via email. The interviewee supplied both biographical information and answered a series of questions.
North Council Member Joseph Golombek Jr., during a Jan. 24 Common Council meeting. (Derek Gee / Buffalo News)
Joseph Golombek Jr.
The basics Job title: Buffalo Common Council member, North district Age: 46 (47 on Groundhog Day) Education: St. Joseph's Collegiate (freshman year); Riverside High School; Buffalo State College, (B.A. in History, minor in Polish, Russian and East European History); New York State Teaching Certificate for Social Studies, grades 7-12; M.S. Social Studies Education at Buffalo State; M.A. History, Renaissance through Napoleon at Marquette University. Other employment: Lecturer at Buffalo State College Party affiliation: Democrat Previous work experience: Secondary Social Studies Teacher at Riverside High School. It was cool to give back to my alma mater, Welcome Back Golombek. City Salary: $52,000 + $1,000 for chairing Community Development
The questions What's your favorite restaurant? As can be seen from my girth there are many, but I like Faso's, the Viking Inn, Gramma Mora's, Emily's and Lone Star Fajita Grill.
What music have you been listening to lately? Gordon Lightfoot, Sting, Four Seasons (as in Frankie Valli, I love NYC doowop), Tchaikovsky, Steely Dan, BNL, bluegrass and Simon and Garfunkel. I spend a lot of time in the car and have been listening to lectures from the Great Courses.
Who's your political hero? I don't have one. Hero is something that should be reserved to real people who faced adversity. My father is a hero to me. He was born in Poland, lived through the Nazis and Communists, came to this country at 16 years of age and worked very hard at Ford Motor Company to give me opportunities that he never had. Frank World, who was killed for his country in Afghanistan, was my next door neighbor. He was a great kid.
I am interested in French Canadian history. One of their premieres, Maurice Duplessis, is one of my favorite figures. He was a five-time premiere and history has been harsh to him. When I first read about him I did not like him, but kept noticing that many good things happened while he was premiere. I started to study him more and realized that the historians who wrote about him were judging him by their biases. He was a conservative and they could not say anything nice about him. The more I read, the more I realized it was like I was reading a political pamphlet. That aggravated me.
Historians need to put their personal prejudices aside and treat history fairly. I decided that I liked Duplessis, warts and all. Buffalo and New York state could learn a lot by studying his time in office. Quebec had some of the same problems then that we have now.
What's one thing people don't know about you? I collect military miniatures (little army men to the unenlightened) and have over 100,000.
Family Guy character Stewie Griffin is your Facebook profile photo. What do you like about Stewie and what's your favorite Family Guy episode? I love Family Guy because they are irreverent towards everyone and everything. Sometimes I cringe at what they make fun of but they do it fairly, to everyone. Stewie is sort of a joke among my friends. Paul Wolf [former Common Council chief of staff] once said that Stewie has my sense of humor and personality. It has stuck.
He is my profile because in one episode he went to the future and asked if he had at least become a city councilmember. The guys at the bar I frequent thought that sealed the comparison. My favorite episode is probably ["Mr. Griffin Goes to Washington" because it includes the clip] "That Guy," because I love "That Girl," [the sitcom that starred Marlo Thomas].
From Carl Paladino to Mark Grisanti, our local pols, political issues and policies are making news elsewhere. Here's a quick look at a few of the highlights.
City & State's weekly roundup of winners and losers found plenty of good for freshmen State Sen. Mark Grisanti in the Legislature's proposed redistricting maps. How well did they think Grisanti made out? Here's a teaser: "Holy favorable partisan gerrymandering, Batman!" -- Winners & Losers, Jan. 27 Edition, City and State
The Observation Deck, the Albany Times Union's Editorial Board blog, questioned whether investing in upgrades to Ralph Wilson Stadium to keep the Buffalo Bills in Orchard Park really warrants state economic development efforts. "But aren’t there better ways to spend the state’s money and to save a city?" they asked. -- New York has other bills to pay, The Observation Deck
The Auburn Citizen's blog, Eye on NY, points out that when former Syracuse Mayor Matthew Driscoll brought the governor's State of the State message to Auburn earlier this month, he left out one important component: The $1 billion promise for Buffalo. "It's a tough spot for Cuomo and state leaders to be in," writes Robert Harding. "While Buffalo does have its troubles, other upstate cities (Rochester and Syracuse come to mind) also have problems. But they aren't getting $1 billion from the state." -- Glaring omission in regional State of the State presentation, Eye on NY
The New American's Bob Adelmann says that one problem with Gov. Andrew Cuomo's plan to shower Buffalo with $1 billion in economic development incentives is a history of "political corruption" in Buffalo. The piece refers back to the Wall Street Journal's recent "How Stimulus Spending Ruined Buffalo." "Cuomo failed to say where the money was going to come from, but that didn’t stop politicians from salivating," Adelmann writes. -- Another $1 Billion Won’t Help Buffalo, New York, The New American
The Times Union's Jimmy Vielkind, over at Capitol Confidential, caught up with Carl Paladino by phone and learned that Paladino thinks of Newt Gingrich as a "kindred spirit." Paladino told Vielkind he plans to be a delegate for Gingrich. "He campaigned in New Hampshire, and now Carl Paladino says he is working to help fill Newt Gingrich’s slate of delegates. — starting with himself," Vielkind writes. -- Paladino says he’ll be a Newt delegate, Capitol Confidential
ALBANY – Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who has been hot, cold and warm over what it will take for him to carry through on his threat to veto legislative lines proposed in this year’s redistricting process, said this morning that plans released Thursday’s by the Assembly and Senate are “unacceptable.’’
“We need better maps,’’ Cuomo said.
But the governor offered no specifics on how the maps released Thursday for the Senate and Assembly need to be improved. Asked for examples of problems, Cuomo said the “political machinations’’ in the new district lines are obvious.
“You don’t have to look hard,’’ the governor said.
Cuomo said he will veto the district lines unless they are changed. He did not elaborate. Historically, the lines are always tweaked at least somewhat from what is initially proposed by the Assembly and Senate.
ALBANY -– A day after state lawmakers publicly rebuked his transportation commissioner for not providing details about a big new roads and bridges construction program, Gov. Andrew Cuomo was behind closed doors in Manhattan this morning talking about his infrastructure plan to a room of big political donors.
Corporations and others were asked to spend as much as $50,000 to participate in a panel featuring Cuomo at this morning’s Democratic Governors Association. The money raised is going to the national governor’s group, not Cuomo, though the governor’s supporters believe the event -– and the money he helped raise -– will be of benefit to Cuomo’s intentions to be in the mix for a 2016 White House run.
“We talked about infrastructure needs,’’ Cuomo told reporters at a Manhattan hotel where the fundraiser/seminar was held. He said the speech basically outlined the proposal he made for a $15 billion infrastructure program as he made in his recent State of the State speech. Major elements of the plan, including a list of projects and how private sector money will be raised to fund it, have not yet been released.
Cuomo defended his appearance before donors with prime access to him. “Well, then, that could be any fundraiser, right?’’ Cuomo said. He noted that every politician at every level holds fundraisers. “One of the things we have to do is get money out of politics,’’ he said.
Asked about donors’ names not being made public, Cuomo said he did not know the specifics of the campaign finance law that applies to the Democratic governors group. He also said he did not know how much people in the room -– which he estimated at between 200 and 250 -– paid to attend.
“Your issue is, ‘Well, people are in rooms where people contribute money.’ That is the current state of politics and that is every elected official in every fundraising forum,’’ Cuomo said.
Cuomo noted his proposals to change the state’s campaign finance laws. “But the federal finance laws, that’s someone else’s problem,’’ he said.
The event was closed to the media. His public schedule did not mention his appearance at the forum.
The governor's transportation commissioner, Joan McDonald, was grilled -- with little or no success -- by lawmakers Thursday searching for specifics of Cuomo's plans for infrastructure improvements in New York.
ALBANY -- The Senate Republicans were very helpful getting right down to the street level in Buffalo if you want to figure out the newly proposed district for Democrat Sen. Tim Kennedy.
Proposals have emerged for the new Assembly and Senate distrcits within New York State as part of the once-a-decade redistricting process following the 2010 census. Here are stories about the proposals for the Assembly and Senate.
Below are links to maps of the proposed districts (current Assembly or Senate member within district listed in parentheses):
News Washington Bureau Chief Jerry Zremski will host a live chat at 1 p.m. today to discuss the State of the Union address and other political matters related to both Buffalo and the nation's capital.
This is the first of weekly Politics Now chats at 1 p.m. Thursdays, which will also feature News Political Columnist Bob McCarthy, City Hall reporter Aaron Besecker, Erie County Hall reporter Denise Jewell Gee and Tom Precious of The News' Albany bureau.
Proposed food truck rules are now in the hands of Mayor Byron W. Brown.
As I reported Tuesday, the Common Council passed a set of food truck rules, which must be signed by the mayor.
Once the City Clerk's Office certifies the results of the Council vote, the paperwork is forwarded to the mayor's office. The mayor would likely receive the documents Monday, Assisstant Corporation Counsel Timothy A. Ball said.
The mayor has 10 days in which he can sign the legislation into law, veto it or do nothing, and then it would become law after 10 days. If the measure is signed into law, it would take effect immediately.
One part of the matter that remained unresolved Tuesday was whether the any newly issued food truck licenses would be good until April 2013, or whether a license -- valid until April 1 of this year -- would be issued with a prorated fee.
After the passage, Peter V. Cimino told me Lloyd the taco truck will be growing, including adding a truck and employees.
Listen to part of our conversation:
South Council Member Michael P. Kearns placed the only vote against the proposed rules. He offered his own version, available here. The only changes he offered were lowering the fee from $1,000 to $395, as well as limiting the number of operating food trucks to one mobile vendor per city block.
Here's Kearns talking about the issue during Tuesday's Common Council meeting:
The bill sponsor, North Council Member Joseph Golombek Jr., spoke immediately after Kearns. Here's some of what he had to say:
