Mugged By a Political Thug
While Erie County Deputy Executive, Bruce Fisher has, for some time, felt restricted by the County Control Board, he, like so many of us, was incredibly upset by State Comptroller Allen Hevesi felony and the political arrangement resulting to it.
Hevesi avoided criminal prosecution and sentencing by agreeing to admit to criminal felony and step down from office. The “pardon” was one of Elliot Spitzer's last acts as Attorney General prior to becoming Governor.
Whether or not you like the Erie County Control Board, read this note passed on by Bruce Fisher. It’s a description of how we’ve been effectively mugged by Hevessi. I received the note yesterday along with Bruce’s expressed intent for his views to be heard by as many as possible, which is why I thought it best to share it with the readers of BRO.
When a whole region's best, most accomplished and most exportable public servants are smeared by a dirty political trick, the whole region loses. Erie County government as a whole was smeared when the state comptroller rode in to town and made a tough but necessary discussion poisonous.
That's why I'm not sorry to see Alan Hevesi, political thug, slink off into whatever hole he's headed for.
Face it, folks: we have internalized the accusations of a man who today admitted that he is a criminal.
Two years ago, Erie County's elected leaders reached an impasse over how to pay the huge bill for state-mandated Medicaid services to the poor and elderly.These local elected officials, Republican and Democrat, had together decided in 2000 to cut the local property tax $70 milion. But the State of New York had raised the pricetag of Medicaid by $75 million by 2005. That left local elected officials with a choice: either raise taxes back up, or cut every other service, from libraries to parks to social workers.
Hevesi stepped into the fight when the Republican executive and the Democratic legislature chose to cut rather than raise. And rather than telling the truth -- which was that state-imposed costs had caused the problem -- Hevesi smeared the executive by alleging "mismanagement."
This from a politician who had been warned, year after year, that his own use of public funds for a chauffeur for his wife was illegal. This from a politician who had, as a member of the state legislature, eagerly lent his vote to every cost-shifting shuffle of Albany's burden down to county governments all over this state, such that counties are now little more than tax-collectors for Albany's programs.
Hevesi knew what he was doing when he came to Buffalo. He was coming here to preserve that ugly Albany deal. And he knew that to come here in the midst of a local political fight, and to invest his state-wide authority, was to crush the Republican executive who had dared to challenge a bad deal.
It was political theater, and thuggery. Who knew that Hevesi was at that very moment a moral reprobate, hypocrite and possible felon all the while he paraded so self-rightelously before the Buffalo cameras?
But Hevesi's perfidy did not end there. Hevesi has had evil consequences for this region.Now, two years after Hevesi's performance, and two years after the executive and the legislature here resolved how to pay Albany's bill (by cutting local services and raising a 3-4% sales tax), there is still the control board Hevesi demanded.
But this control board is unique in all of New York State in that its sole purpose is to criticize, second-guess and meddle with the elected officials who have restored balanced budgets and thereby obviated the need for any such board.
Hevesi's legacy is of accusing local leaders of mismanagement while he was himself creating problems for all local leaders everywhere in New York by abetting a system of down-loads, mandates and cost-shifting.
And now, while local leaders and their key managers still wear Hevesi's "mismanagement" label, it is small comfort to know that the accuser not only stands accused, but has, at long last, admitted that he is a criminal. That's what it means when you accept a plea deal: you admit that you are a criminal. Hevesi is a criminal.
Meanwhile, here at home, we who run Erie County know that this County isn't mismanaged. We know that our senior professionals -- our commissioners, our social workers, physicians, engineers and civil servants all -- play by the rules, do a very fine job with a lot fewer workers and a lot less money than before.
And we (those of us who don't make theater in the media, anyway) know that our executive and our legislators alike are sensible and thoughtful people, duly elected, who have a hugely difficult task coping with Albany's mandates in a poisonous media environment.
Erie County has been wronged, not just the governmental entity, but the community as a whole. We've been besmirched by this criminal thug Hevesi. Our own judgment as participants in elective democracy has been undermined by doubt.
We still have a lot of healing to do if we are to trust ourselves again. Some of us will still believe that we and our local electeds are the cause of all our woes (and there are some folks in town who will keep that message alive).
But maybe that self-defeating self-hatred will be a harder sell now. Maybe we can see our Albany problem a little more clearly now that this sorry, ugly thug will no longer have a platform.
Bruce L. Fisher
Deputy County Executive
Erie County
95 Franklin Street
16th Floor
Buffalo, New York 14202
716.858.8500
Oh brother...
I am sure that there is a great deal of "schadenfreude" going around the 16th floor and the Legislature suites over Hevesi's demise.
But Hevesi's misdeeds does not negate the fact that Giambra took office and squandered billions of county reserves on misguided tax cuts and oceans of pork and patronage.
It does not negate the fact that while Hevesi was scolding the Legislature, there was George Holt peering over his shoulder, the same George Holt who funneled public moneys into some dubious youth camp in Texas run by his son; the same George Holt who didn't turn in collected saes taxes from his hot dog store. Why is this man still in office? Why is he not behind bars?
The stench of the putrid Giambra regime of failure, massive overspending, waste and corruption has 373 days to go. Can't wait till these thugs are gone and we can fumigate the 16th floor of the Rath Building and then bring responsible government back to county government!
I read Bruce Fisher's letter and just shake my head and laugh, and accompany his rants with my very tiny violin....
That letter is full of BS in its defense of this horribly managed county.
And Zimmerman is totally wrong in agreeing with the letter's claim that the control board represents a mugging by Hevesssi (implying it was a unilateral decision on his part to create it - what total dishonest crap Buffalo Rising is associating itself with!)
What's becoming of Buffalo Rising lately? The quality and credibility of the "articles" is on a steep decline.
You can't become a millionaire being a politician...at least not legally.
The President of the United States, makes 400 grand a year. Think about that. My hometown Cubs, just spent 136 MILLION on one player. The president, makes less than one half of one percent of that.
So why do they spend millions upon millions of dollars running for offices in state and local government?
There is an INSANE amount of money exchanging hands in politics.
They don't care about their cities, states or civil service. They care about money and power, and they get both in huge quantities.
Politics is a passion of mine, but they are disgusting.
Here, there and everywhere, but NY State and Erie County seem to be particularly special.
Why was this letter posted on BRO???
Why was this letter posted on BRO???
Even if what this letter says is true it still doesn't fix the problem. Isn't one of the first things that most people are taught is that name calling and blaming others doesn't solve YOUR problems. Local government must be concerned with local problems and worry about the things that are under their control. These so called officials need to start rolling with the punches, adapting to changes, run government as if it were a business not as a for profti well fare system with a bottomless pit money. And correct me if i'm wrong, didn't giambra get accused of hiring a 70 thousand dollar a year chauffeur?
Did Hevesi's chauffur cost as much as Giambra's overspending on office furniture? Did anyone lose their job over furniture-gate?
Get this merde off BRO if you wish to consider yourself a credible site! This letter comes from the right arm of one of the biggest crooks Erie county has ever seen. The Fisher letter was nothing more than a ghostly effort by the county executive to deflect attention from his own graft, mismanagement and incompetence. He is also the same a**hole whose 'friends' are giving him a $50 per ticket 50th birthday party next month. Wouldn't we all like 'friends' like that?
Is that the same Bruce Fisher whose in-house office party for his "promotion" to Deputy County Exec (after Calabrese finally quit in disgust) was attempted to be billed to the taxpayers?
The only reason that tax money wasn't spent on his cake and balloons was the comptroller caught the hand in cookie jar and rejected the invoice.
Also recall this administration's convenient little no-bid contract awards for overpriced furniture purchsed from one of their leading campaign contributors.
The list of their own muggings and attempted muggings of the public is very long ($80,000/year tax money salary to Joel's driver who happened to be a campaign operative, etc. etc).
And Mr. Fisher was the genious who devised the whole Red/Green budget scheme.
BR should be embarassed at publishing that garbage from a great example of Old Buffalo politics. If he wanted to write all that into a comment, fine that's free speech, but when BR publishes something like that directly they are stepping into the slime hip deep at least.
I had an instant bad taste in my mouth while attended a Sabres game last season. I saw Hevesi exiting the HSBC along with the rest of the great unwashed but he had an escort of two plainclothes officers (probably troopers) who were parting the human masses for their boss.
I thought that the state comptroller hardly needs a 2 man police escort to attend a Sabres game. I realized then that this was no ordinary man walking through the crowds but an elite super pol!
Get over yourself Al and good riddance.
There's a lot of hate for our County Executive's administration. How are we going to live with it another year?
Some of you suggested the subject shouldn't even be on BRO-- but I beg to differ-- let the sun shine and exchange our opinions on the critical subject. It's our county, so let's work with our tools now, not wait till later.
If there are 373 days left to the Giambra administation, and if you wish to fumigate the County Exectve's office then, sobeit....
...but in the meantime, you have a choice: either give a fair hearing for what the Office will do wth the People--us- or, you can ignore it and waste a year of your life waiting for change. ---I for one, don't want to waste a year.
I propose this, however:
Deputy County Executive Bruce Fisher will meet with us, and conduct a workshop-talk decripting the advancements of the "hate against" and "stay the course moves" of the county.
We'll meet at the Chief Petty Officer's Club on the second Wednesday in January at 7 pm. All are welcome to come and discuss in an amiable mood.
We'll listen first to the side Bruce has-- and his comments regarding County progression. Show your hand then.
The County did give full service funding to the Culturals (did you know that?) , did save Olmstead Parks against weary acounting by Massielo's City, did proceed with Wright Rowing House and te Inner Harbor, and did keep the trains running on time and much more.
Come hear Bruce, our neighbor and Deputy County Executive, and come discuss the matter personally.
You can bait and diss all you want to, but we need to connect and find working terms with the folks at the helm of our county ship.--
That's why I wrote my intro and presented this article by Bruce, and that's why I'm proud to give it light for YOUR discussion, ample as it is.
That is a BRO initiative-- not sweeping the dirt details under the rug, but raisng them for open discussion.
This letter is ridiculous. Hevesi, while a criminal, has virtually no responsibility for the fiscal condition of Erie County. He didn't 'mug' us. He did, though, upset the local political clowns when he said the area needed 'adult supervision,' which is why Mr. Fisher is apparently taking such glee in Hevesi's downfall.
It is nothing more than political hackery to attempt to convert the county budget debacle into a problem created by Hevesi. As it was, the county executive and legislature made no progress for months, bickered back-and-forth through countless media outlets and made the county a national laughingstock. We had no budget, and our debt was being downgraded by rating agencies (apolitical entities if ever there were any). As a result, the state stepped in. So, the state comptroller didn't create the problem, he merely responded to it.
By opportunistically trying to use Hevesi's criminality as an excuse for our local political defencies, this letter only reinforces and higlights the very defincities that led to the control board in the first place.
Bill,
I totally agree that it should be open for discussion. My feelings are similar to others posted here in that they are very negative toward the county leaders, but this is definitely a great forum to discuss those problems. Please, if this meeting is held and I am unable to make it, I sincerely hope that people make the topic of raising tourism funding a priority. Even if the county contributed positively to the progress of the Wright Boathouse, they continue to hold back on funds to let anyone know about it. THIS HAS TO STOP. It made me sick when I saw that this area has a 2 million dollar tourism budget, when Cleveland has 7 mil and Pittsburgh 10 mil. Just ridiculous. There is that old advertising axiom. You can have the greatest product in the world, but if no one knows about it, then it's worthless.
Not only does Hevesi NOT need a police escort from a Sabres game - but NO politician in Albany, Erie County, or the City of Buffalo needs a chaffeur paid by tax dollars.
What exactly does the term public SERVANT mean? The only servitude I see is the taxpayer to the politicians.
We are paying the taxes and should have the voice as to how much these mutts get paid, just like a corporation decides the salaries of their employees. Not the employees deciding how much they're getting every week.
And, how about representation? How many of us, reading this right now feel we are adequately represented either in city, state, or federal government? What about the historic battle cry of no taxation without representation? BS - all the way.
Sure, the prez "only" makes $400K- more BS - since each prez before Bush made $200K yearly. And now, who gets the clean up contracts in foreign countries we go into and blast apart?
How can Fisher even state that "we know.....our social workers" when there appears to be none to assist those with need?
Dang, this infuriates me, and many others, I know... But when are we going to truly come together to demand accountability? When are we going to stop and say "Gee, thanks for the pork money on this project just in time for you to get good press when any other time you just pay lip service to your constituency?"
When are our politicians going to really serve the community they represent with the items that need to be addressed for quality of life instead of paying some company to come into town - with the possibility of being left at the altar? (see "Bass Pro")
We need to have a voice and we need to demand accountability NOW.
What a red herring.
None of the commenters said "the subject" of county matters or Hevessi or whatever shouldn't be discussed on BRO, but several said and explained why posting that pathetic letter in full - and with your chiming in with your agreement no less - is unfitting and unworthy of what BRO should aspire to.
Let Joel and Bruce dig into their left over (and still growing) campaigh war chest to buy advertising to get that crappy message of theirs out in public if they want. It's plain as day that it's just cheap piling on --- "hey look, someone is worse than us, we told you so!!!" High school type garbage at best.
More baloney. That letter was in no way an even remotely constructive discussion of "what the Office will do wth the People".
It was just a cheap pathetic attempt at distraction. THAT LETTER ITSELF was full of vengeful hatred and people were calling it out as such.
Lots of good replies here... props to Marilyn.
Bill, I don't hate Joel... I voted for him the first time around and ascribed to his vision of regional governance and smaller government. But his vision turned into a nightmare. He was diagnosed with his cancer, and came back from that ordeal as a free spending patronage hog.
I wish him good health and a happy life. Sounds to me like he's a friend of yours and that is great. I just don't want him handling my affairs anymore. I wouldn't even trust him with my grocery list and charge card at Wegmans.
Instead of anyone wasting their time heading to your affair nad talking it up with Joel, I think it would be more prudent to turn the page and look at what's ahead.
Just last week Len Lenihan held a speaker's forum for County Executive candidates, and it gave the chance to hear ideas and visions from the aspirants. THis might sound arrogant, but it is the Democrats who will retake this office next year, and we want to make sure that our nominee represents the very best we have to offer.
It was an enlightening evening hearing from Paul Clark, Jim Keane, Dan Ward, Dave Swarts and Lynn Marinelli. THIS is the dicussion and the debate I want to be a part of, not listening to Joel blather on and on about how he was able to merge the water departments in Brant, or *yuck yuck yuck* "except for the Buffalo Zoo, the crane is an extinct species in Western New York".
Ugh! I just want the guy gone.
Let's be practical here. Giambra's going to be in office another 372 days. Are you just going to sleep a whole year until the dawn of a new admin on the 16th floor?
No one wants to hear a blah-blah political litany of defensive argument supporting the Giambra administration. I certainly didn't put one forth. I'll bet Giambra most of all longs for the memory of those more popular days when he championed the fight to merge and downsize city and county government.
We need to secure a handle for dealing with and exacting product and service from an administration that is going to be in office for another year.
The Giambra Administration will lead this county for another year, unless some wave of strength forces a recall vote and ousts them. Rather than close one's eyes, and if you refuse to work with them, then muster up and start a Oust petition! But please don't just sit there.
We have a choice to simply watch them lead our county while we follow or get out of the way, or we can do something active about it, and make this a productive year for all.
No one's looking to exonerate, forgive or forget the past, only to clarify it from both sides, start a productive new year, and project an unfettered future that's productive.
Tomorrow it will be 371 more days. You can simply lie there and count them one by one, or you can count in on them.
BZ: ...Let's be practical here. Giambra's going to be in office another 372 days. Are you just going to sleep a whole year until the dawn of a new admin on the 16th floor?
Yes, let's be very practical. Thanks to him and his level of competence, the voters chose 12 Democrats in the 15 seat legislature. As a practical matter, they won't approve any big changes he pushes for anyway.
He made himself the lamest of lame ducks in recent memory and if there's any blaming for a lost year of real reform (ha!) he should look in the mirror. The only nice thing I can thing of to say to him is Merry Christmas.
What purpose does Fisher's silly letter serve? How does that self-serving statement and its implicit introduction by BRO as viable information help us deal with the financial crisis? I'm baffled.
This post would have been easier to stomach had it been presented as an editorial.
I think it was Eric. It was a presentation of Fisher's editorial.
And while Giambra-be-damned fever persists, the purpose of the article was to insists we not be damned too with a wasteful year.